


Red vs Blue The Deadly Bouquet

by itz_blitz_tyme



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Death Threats, Explicit Language, F/M, Identity Issues, Inappropriate Humor, Mental Anguish, Multi, Revenge, Sexual Humor, Strong Female Characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-14 22:30:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10545412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itz_blitz_tyme/pseuds/itz_blitz_tyme
Summary: This should have been expected.Everyone knew that the late Pvt. Jimmy, Church's former body had once had a girlfriend.Who knew she would show up, pissed off for the death of her late fiancé?Surely not the Reds and Blues of Project Freelancer.And guess what?They get to face her and her team of psycho bitches looking for revenge for Jimmy's death.





	1. Death Becomes Her

**Author's Note:**

> There is a lot of What if's in this story. 
> 
> What if........Pvt. Jimmy's girlfriend found out that Jimmy didn't just die during duty in Blood Gulch but was sacrificed? 
> 
> What if......Pvt. Jimmy's girlfriend was a military brat genius and that was why he joined the army? 
> 
> What if......Pvt. Jimmy's girlfriend was once Special Ops? 
> 
> What if......Pvt. Jimmy's girlfriend found out that her boyfriend was simply used, brutalized, brainwashed and reprogrammed by Project Freelancer just serve the purpose of Leonard Church/Alpha's body and she became very pissed off and decided to seek revenge for Jimmy's death? 
> 
> What if.......Captain Butch Flowers/Agent Florida wasn't really dead because he found out that a vengeful, Ex-Special Ops and late girlfriend was out for blood and she was determined to make everyone responsible for Jimmy's death a living freaking hell? 
> 
> What if.......Special Ops Robin Tyker found everything she needed to know of why and how her former fiancé died and she was going to make everyone involved pay dearly for Jimmy's death by leading her old Special Ops squad against them? 
> 
> What if.......everyone in Project Freelancer and the Reds and Blues got caught in the middle of her enraged, killing spree because hell hath no fury than a woman who has been scorned by the death of her lover?

Many years ago........

This was very hard for her to hear as she sank down to her knees, hand covering her mouth as the tears began to flow. 

She knew this should have been expected. 

It was war, after all. 

"You know I don't want you to go because of how dangerous it is. You're going to be facing dangerous aliens." She had once told him before his deployment.

Everyone died in war. Killed in action by enemies. Families always suffered when a beloved one died while on duty. 

Still.......

To hear it have happened........to her Jimmy, it shattered her heart. 

"I know, Rob. But I have to. The Covenant will find a way to come here. I have to do this. I have to keep you safe from them." He had replied to her.

Robin just sobbed as she listened to what was said by this.....Major of a specialized military operation reported to her that Jimmy had died in battle. He explained to her that Jimmy had died on the front lines. 

"You don't have to try and keep me safe, Jimmy. It should be the other way around. I'm the one with the skills, remember? I'm the one with the training. You don't even like to fight." She had told him.

Something.......something didn't add up though and it came to her as she had laid mourning that night in her own bed. 

Why wasn't there a body to be returned? Why hadn't there been anything to be given to her from Jimmy's death? What about his ring? 

"No, I don't like to fight. But I have to. I want to fight for you, Rob. That's why I am going. I have to do what I can to help my fellow man. I have to protect you. You might have the skills but I want to protect you in every way I can." He had told her.

She had given him a ring before he deployed over six months ago when he went in for training. 

And a week ago.......he had video called her. 

It hit her. 

"My training is complete. I'm being sent to a new place. It's not on the front lines. It's against rebels. The Red Army. I should be safe enough, Rob." He had told her six months after his training.

Something didn't add up. 

Jimmy had said he had been chosen to go on a Special mission to a place called......Gulfstream......Bob's Gulf......Blood.........Blood Gulch! That was it! 

He had told her that it was mostly just a relocation mission to serve in the Blue Army against the Red Army, rebellions to the Government.......wha-?! 

Robin sat up in her bed, eyes wide. She hadn't thought about it before. She had heard of the civil war between Reds and Blues, of course. There wasn't a lot to go by it, however. There hadn't even been a lot of information about it in the media. 

But Jimmy had told her about some of it. 

The reason being why he joined the Blue army in the first place was quite silly, really and Robin had teased him about it. 

Blue was his favorite color. 

He had chosen to join the Blue Army because of his whim of favorite colors. 

Still......something didn't add up and she knew something was wrong with the information that she had been given. 

"It's funny. We are fighting the Red Army for a flag. I think it's hilarious." He had told her.

Jimmy had been happy when he was chosen to go to Blood Gulch. He had told her that there had very little chance that he would have died in action while playing sentry for a stupid flag that seemed to surround the civil war. He had thought it too funny, if she had been honest, and so had she. 

Why was he dead then? 

Something didn't add up. 

"It should be safe for me, Rob. I'm not even fighting the aliens." He had said. 

"I still want you to be careful, Jimmy. I don't know what I will do if something happens to you." 

"I'll be fine, Rob. Heh, it's just fighting over a flag. Most of the time, no one even dies during these silly things." 

But he had. 

Jimmy had died.

That was why Robin made her decision. 

She had to find out more of what really happened to Jimmy. She had the tech to do it. And she did have skills. 

For God's sake, she was the daughter of Sergeant Major, herself, so she did have military training and she did know that one reason Jimmy joined the army in the first place was to impress her father. 

Hell! She had been a part of a Special Ops group in the UNSC before she met Jimmy! She had once been a military assassin for God's sakes!

She knew she had to find out what really happened to Jimmy. 

And if she found out that she had been lied to, that his death had been falsified to cover something up, may God have mercy for whoever was responsible for Jimmy's death. 

If she found out that Jimmy had been nothing but cannon fodder for Project Freelancer, as he had once told her about at the end of his military training, she was going to fucking kill everyone who was responsible for his death.

So she called up her girlfriends; her friends she had made when she had been in the Special Ops and asked for their help.

But she swore to her own soul, she was going to find out what happened to Private Jimmy if it was the last thing she did.

"I'll love you, Jimmy." Robin's last words had been to him. 

"And I love you, Robin. And when I get back home from this silly game of capture the flag with the Reds, I am going to get down on my knee and ask you to marry me. I love you so much." Jimmy's last words had been before ending the video call with her. 

But he was never going to come home. 

And Tobin was going to find out why. And if she was right, if her gut feelings was right, she was going to make everyone involved pay for it. 

She swore her very soul on it.


	2. Finding Out Bits and Pieces

Her crusade of finding out the truth took only a year since the pronounced death of her Jimmy. 

She had done a lot of digging with one of her friend's' help. She had had her friend hack into UNSC files to find out more about the civil war between Reds and Blues. She had found out things she wished she never had. 

She found out that THEY had lied to her. 

Jimmy had not died when she was told he had. 

She found out the truth, thanks to Ginny, one of her best friends, who was quite the hacker. It had taken a lot of work to find out about these files. 

These top secret files hidden deep within a military operation called Freelance. 

And thanks to an old friend, who sold them the information alongside with Insurrectionists. 

Robin owed Connie for this information. She knew that her old bunk mate in the Marines had done a lot and risked a lot to make sure she got this information before she died, killed for betraying her own employers because she knew the truth of what was going on. 

Robin found out about Connie's death and even had help from her old boyfriend, himself before he too vanished from the face of the Universe. He had told her that he promised Connie that he would stay in contact with Robin. 

Even for just a little while. 

Robin found out about it all. 

The Red and Blue simulation was all just a ruse. 

A way to hide something from everyone else. 

And Jimmy had not died when it was reported. He had lived. 

But he wasn't Jimmy any more.

Robin found out that he had not died but had been used in Project Freelancer as a ruse, a sacrifice for a stupid AI. She found out in the files that Ginny dug up. His body was used, his mind trapped deep within for the sake of an AI pretending to be human. 

And that fed a fire within her the moment she found out that THEY had lied. She felt so angry that Project Freelancer had done this to Jimmy. She was going to make them pay for this. 

She was going to save Jimmy.

It didn't help her own cause that Project Freelance was pretty high tech and they did receive word about her meddling. 

They sent some of their still alive Freelancers after her. 

Too bad they didn't send her the best ones. 

She and her former Special Ops team did put up a pretty good fight with Agents Louisiana, Kentucky and Nevada. There was one casualty and three fatalities in that fight. The three Freelancers being the ones who died because they hadn't been competent enough to kill seven Special Ops. 

But one of her team had been hurt badly. 

Poor Ginny. 

Ginny was alive but paralyzed from the waist down because of what that Freelance dipshit, Kentucky did to her. 

So while she recovered, Robin lead a full on frontal attack on hidden Freelance bases. She found out where Blood Gulch was during the assault and she went to go find it with her team, hoping to find Jimmy and free him from the fucking AI that invaded his body like a parasite. 

She did find him, however. 

But it was already too late for him. 

And the Reds and blues that were supposed to be stationed there were gone. 

"How the fuck did we miss them?" Robin seethed as she looked at the three graves at Blue Base. She had dug up the bodies, wanting to know who was in there and she did find two bodies. 

One robot body and......Jimmy's body. 

There had been nothing in the grave marked as Captain Butch Flowers.

After mourning that for hours, Robin was ready to take a new step. She was going to destroy everyone who was responsible for this. Though, it really was a miracle she even recognize ized Jimmy's body. 

He was almost in parts, as if he had been blown up by a tank. 

And the tank was still there, with an AI called Sheila, who admitted to having blown up the body of Jimmy. The tank had told the investigating Special Ops that the body of Jimmy had been claimed as the body of Leonard Church, not Jimmy. 

Robin was pissed. 

But after the conversation with Sheila, finding out the truth, she wiped the memory of ever meeting the group of Special Ops from the AI'S database and moved on. 

"Okay, this is what we got, Rob. Whoever the Blues are, they are fucking stupid. They had the dumbest journal logs ever written. And this one called Church is suppose to be the leader." Robin's right hand and oldest friend, Major told her. "It says here, he claims to be a ghost, having been killed by his idiotic team member, Michael J. Caboose in an accidental team friendly fire during a fight with the Reds." 

"He thinks he's a ghost?" Robin asked Major deadpanned. 

Major nodded, looking just as deadpanned as her friend. "Yep. There's a lot of swearing in his reports too. He really hates his fellow Blues. He thinks they're all idiots." She told her. 

"So what happened here? Where are they?" Her friend, Sam asked as she stood beside Robin. 

Robin sighed, now rubbing the bridge of their nose. "The tank, Sheila said that the Reds and Blues left. Apparently, a Freelancer named Texas showed up shortly after the death of Leonard Church to help take out the Reds and she got herself killed, thus this body of the robot, and then an AI called O'Malley went on a rampage. She said they left to rescue a fucking robot named Lopez and an apparently human, alien hybrid named Junior after he kidnapped them. They're not here. They left three days ago." She said irritabily. 

"So we chase after them?" Her friend Cupcake, and yes, she called herself Cupcake; said. 

Robin shook her head as she looked her team over, stonily. "No. We don't know where they went. We need to find out what happened with the body of Butch Flowers. He isn't here. And according to what Ginny said, he was Agent Florida. He's the fucker who is responsible for what happened to my Jimmy. We find him, we kill him. And then when we find out where the Reds and Blues are, the ones who were suppose to be here, we go after them. But we have to wait until they pop back up on the radar, where ever the fuck they are." She said with a sigh.

"Robin, you know how dangerous this is, right? We are going up against a group of mercenaries, right? Paid killers." Major asked as she shared a glance with her. 

"Yes. Your point, Mage?" Robin asked glancing at her. 

"You know very well that you declaring war against them. This could get us killed." Major said again, pointingly. 

Robin sighed as she shook her head before turning to face her friends. "Look, if you want out, then feel free to leave. I won't stop you and I won't hate you. But I'm not stopping until these fuckers, every last one of them pay for what they did to Jimmy." She turned her now watering eyes onto the corpse that once was Jimmy. "They killed the most amazing, friendly, loving and caring man I've ever known. And I will be damned that they get away with it." 

There was only silence for a moment before there was collection of sighs and everyone stepped forward. 

"We will help you, Rob. But you gotta know something. This is going against one of the most powerful and dangerous men to ever live. I will help you. But you cannot let Doctor Leonard Church know who you are." Her tallest, not female friend said. 

Robin looked right at the man who was a part of her team, an old friend just Connie had been. One who was suppose to be dead but had some miraculous luck that kept him alive, even after his one of his team mates had gotten him shot to be dead. 

Robin had found him in a hospital on a space station near the Quantum Section. He should have been dead. He should have died. But she made sure he survived from the coma that he had been in for a month. She had sure of it, even after stealing his body from the medical facility. She knew very well what would have happened if he stayed in that facility. He had been a loose end in Project Freelance after all. 

And he was an old friend from her old military days, just Connie had been.

"I know, Nick. And I know you were apart of them, just Connie had been. And I am so grateful that you are willing to turn against them to help me. But I have to do this." Robin told the handsome young man. 

"I know. But change your alias. All of you that wants to do this. The Director will use your identities against you. If he finds out who you are, he will destroy everything you are. Everything you love." He said as he looked at her through his one good brown eye, the other blinded with a scar running down the left. 

"My family is already dead, Nick. Jimmy was the last I ever loved and they took him away too." Robin said with a shaky sigh. 

"Change your name. I will help you but change your name. Never use Robin Tyker again." Nick told her as he tilted his head to the side. 

Robin frowned, looking down before she eyed the empty grave of Butch Flowers. "Hm." She said thoughtfully before smiling bitterly. "The fucker, Butch Flowers destroyed my Jimmy. So my name.....my new name.....does anyone know deadly flowers?" She said stonily.

The girls and the one guy glanced at one another before smiling faintly and looking at Robin. 

"I'm sure that smartass, Ginny does. So you're going to be a deadly flower then?" Nick asked. 

Robin nodded as she looked at him and then at her other friends. "Like I said, you don't have to help me. It's dangerous and it can get you killed." She told them. 

The girls shook their heads and smiled. 

"We're not going to let you do this alone, Rob. We are with you until the end. And I think......Nightshade would suit you." Major told her. "I call dibs on the name of Foxglove." 

Robin just smiled before looking at Nick. "And you? What about you, former Freelancer, New York? You really want to get back into the action of killing everyone you used to be partners with?" She asked him. 

Nick, or rather York shrugged as he looked down, smiling sadly. "I cared about a lot of those guys. But in the end.......they all turned on me. And North. And Carolina......though she turned on me too. I don't owe Doctor Church anything but a kick in the ass. He hurt a lot of people I cared about." He sighed and dropped his arms he had folded across his chest. "Call me Hemlock now." He told her.

Everyone nodded and began their plans while burying Jimmy again in respect. 

But not before Robin.......Nightshade collected a diamond ring she found in his clothes, having been undiscovered and forgotten with a tiny single robin engraved inside the band. The ring she had given him though.......it was gone. 

Therefore, the team......that would hunt down Butch Flowers and any who had been apart of Project Freelancer, they became the Deadly Bouquet team. And while some they crossed in their path with unfortunately made the mistake of making fun of them, they really were a deadly team that would take no shit from anyone.

And it took them two years of hunting down any more information on the remainder of Project Freelancer and the Reds and Blues. 

Two years of chasing the stories and even running into a lot of dead ends.

Because God almighty, did they have a helluva time finding those Reds and Blues. It took a lot of travelling. A lot of digging around. Alot of chasing them down. 

But they finally chased them down.

Until they became quite famous for taking down Doctor Church and the Project Freelancer.

From Rat's Nest to an old UNSC storage facility for AIs, to a planet called Chorus. They chased them down, sticking to the shadows and building a reputation of smoke and mist.


	3. A New Alliance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if.....Alpha and the Freelance AI fragments weren't destroyed?

In the two years of hunting down the bastards that killed Jimmy, there were side missions for the deadly team of hired on assassins. 

They had a reputation to build, after all. 

It started off small; no one knowing who they were in the beginning. They knew they had to build that up, and they needed the credits for it too. Even when Larkspur was hacking into Project Freelancer accounts and stealing credits from them, they still needed more to build up their operation. 

So they took on odd jobs on the side. 

It started off stealing things like weapons for Insurrectionists but that grew too dangerous in the end when they began turning on the team so they didn't have to pay them. 

That had been a deadly result to the Insurrectionists. 

Because if there was thing that Nightshade would not put up with it was back stabbing her team. She used a pretty good metaphor for sending the message to any future clients that would hire The Deadly Bouquet. 

"Don't plant deadly flowers and then try and pick them later on." 

In the time that The Deadly Bouquet finally built up their reputation, they had been through a lot. They had new scars upon their bodies from deadly battles with back stabbing clients and even their new enemies, they also stole a lot of shit. 

And that also included the one thing they had been searching for in the first place. 

A lot of people believed that it was gone. 

Even the Director of Project Freelance thought that his most precious artifact had been destroyed in that UNSC storage facility for AIs. 

But if there was thing that The Deadly Bouquet was good at, other than killing people, it was stealing shit. 

The Deadly Bouquet had caught up to the ones they had been hunting for. It was a flurry of action and a race against time. 

But they did it. 

They swiped Alpha and his fragments right out from under Doctor Church's nose. They used high technology invented by Larkspur to do it. 

They knew if that the Alpha had not been inside the specialized memory storage unit that Larkspur created, a storage unit that seemed to be able to deflect EMP waves from destroying electronic devises, their goal of finding Agent Florida would be lost. 

Using the EMP warding storage unit, which was protected by a thick rubber protection coat, Nightshade managed to pull all of the AIS away from its host, firmly known as Agent Maine, and into the storage unit. 

Neither Maine or Washington, nor the security cameras saw Nightshade and her deadly team of Flowers in the shadows of that storage facility when the EMP bomb went off. 

"And tell me why we stole the Alpha from them, Nightshade?" Foxglove asked as the entire met up at a safe house far away from that facility that was now being flooded by UNSC soldiers to arrest Maine and Washington.

"We need it for now, Fox." Nightshade said as she looked at the rubber coated memory unit now sitting on the table. She wanted nothing more than to let the AI out, the AI that had become a parasite inside of Jimmy. She wanted to destroy it, herself. To let it suffer for the suffering Jimmy had suffered.

But alas, she knew she needed Alpha. 

She needed it to help her find Butch Flowers. 

He was alive. She knew it. She just had that gut feeling that he wasn't as dead as he was letting everyone else believe. 

"Okay. But you want to destroy this thing. Right?" Wolfsbane asked as she stood at the table, just like everyone else. 

"If it could be that easy, Sam." Hemlock said before sighing and knocking on the table to get Nightshade's attention. "Hey, I know you want to destroy this AI, Rob. But.....can we not?" 

"Don't tell me you're having second thoughts, Hemlock. It's because of the Intelligence AI, isn't it?" Nightshade said dryly. 

Hemlock sighed but nodded and shrugged at the same time. "I spent months on end getting to know Delta, Rob. Yeah, he got annoying with all of his tactical analysis stuff but he was a great guy. I do think of him as a friend." He told her.

Nightshade huffed but then looked over at Larkspur, who sat in her motorized wheelchair. "Larkspur, the AI containment unit, if you would." She said and received surprised looks from her team. 

"You're going to let them out?" Wolfsbane asked in surprise. 

"Not completely. Larkspur adjusted the containment unit so that AIS can't escape from it. No matter how they try. I want to talk to Alpha. See if he knew who Jimmy was and what the fuck he did to him." Nightshade said firmly. 

Larkspur, in her light purple specialized armor shrugged before she began typing on the computer panel of her wheelchair. "Okay, Rob. If you say so. None of them should be able to find any breaks in the shield. They can try but they shouldn't be able to. If they do attempt to escape, they will receive a minor shock of electricity and it does affect AIs. It shouldn't hurt them but it will alarm them." She told her.

Nightshade just nodded as she and her team stood around the table before she activated the release on the memory unit, which began to hum loudly and the lights on the sides lit up.

A moment later, eight forms of light flickered into view, all looking quite disoriented. The white one in the middle was clutching his small head, stumbling.

"Wh-what the fuck......?" The small white solder remarked before looking around and jumping at the sight of seven soldiers standing around the table. "Wha-?! Who the fuck are you?!" 

"Well, mouthy little guy isn't he?" Foxglove asked sharing a glance with Autumn Crocus, who giggled. 

Nightshade just dipped her head, staring down Alpha through her amber colored visor. "Alpha, of Project Freelance......." She was saying.

"Oh my fucking God, lady! My name is not Alpha! It's Church! Leonard Fucking Church! Did Agent Washington tell you.......!" The little AI had interrupted. 

Nightshade slapped a hand against the table to shut him up and even one of the AIS jumped, hiding behind one of the larger ones. It was pretty small, now that everyone paid attention. "Listen you!" The Leader of the team snapped now leaning forward but not too close to the containment unit. "I know you think you are a ghost, but you're an AI! And I have it in the right mind to have my team mate, Larkspur, over there, turn on an electrical shock that will send you into a malfunction! Now do not interrupt me again! Got that?!" 

"I'm calling bullshit." The AI grumbled but then folded his arms and shifted his weight. "All right. Who are the fuck are you? And what do you want? Why do you have us?" 

Nightshade stood up straight again. She was quiet for just a moment before she motioned around the room to her team. "We are a Special Ops team turned mercenaries. We've stolen you, AIs from Project Freelancer because they fucking pissed us off by killing a man named Private Jimmy." She said firmly. 

The white AI stiffened and dropped his arms again. "Wait......Jimmy? As in Jimmy Burnes?" He asked stiffly.

"Yes." Nightshade said quite coldly as she looked over the AI. "You remember him?" 

"Ye-ah, kind of hard to forget the guy who had his skull ripped out from his body and was beaten to death with it by my psycho bitch girlfriend. He was my partner in Sidewinder......" Church was saying. 

"Wrong!" Nightshade interupted, sharply. "He wasn't your partner! He was you. Larkspur, pull up all of the files we found. He doesn't believe me. Looks like Doctor Church fuck ed him up worse than we thought." 

Larkspur nodded before she typed on her wheelchair, that did have the other AIs looking curious as they shifted around the Alpha. "Pulling up files now, Nightshade. The other AIS at least believe you. But the Alpha is pretty confused about everything. He is pretty broken up, from what I can see in my analysis." 

There was a flash of green and one of the AIs moved closer to where she was sitting, seeming to be very curious of her. 

"Maybe I can assist you?"

"Why would you want do that?" Larkspur asked amused as everyone stared at the AI. 

The green AI, Delta just bobbed his head. "I understand that in some way, you are trying to help Alpha realize who he actually is. When you captured us away from Agent Maine, all of us were trying to convince Alpha who and he was while in the memory unit you had us in. He is unconvinced of what he is. And I do detect that while you are in some way hostile to us, you want to him to realize that whatever happened to Private Jimmy Burnes is truth." He told her. 

"You're staying in the containment unit, Delta. Sorry, man, but we all know about Omega and Sigma's intentions." Hemlock said now lighthearted amused. 

The AIS flashed in surprise and looked right at the white and yellow armored man. 

"I know that voice. Agent New York? I was aware you were dead." Delta said though he did flash over to stand before the man. 

Hemlock hummed amused before reaching up and taking his helmet off to show them who he was. "It's not New York any more, D. I'm Hemlock now. And it's thanks to Nightshade I am still alive. She saved my as when Project Freelancer intended to kill me." He said before leaning forward and looking at all of the AIs. "Look, the whole lot of you. That means you too, Church. I know you don't believe us when we tell you that you're an AI but you got to realize what you are." 

Then he motioned to Nightshade. 

"Nightshade, over there, she is rightfully angry with what happened to Jimmy. And it's not because of Tex, Church. It's because of your creator, Doctor Leonard Church. Who you think you are. And because of Agent Florida. Butch Flowers." Hemlock said and nodded when Church flashed I'm surprise. "It was all a ruse. The Reds and Blues war. It was to hide you from everyone. From the UNSC. From enemies. What was done to you, to break you into so many fragments just for the sake of more AIS was illegal. And it has landed the Director in some very hot water right now with the UNSC. And because he tried hiding you, a good man killed."

"What the fuck does that have to do with me?!" Church asked clearly confused. 

That is.....until the information was pulled up right front of him. The AI files, the Project Freelancer files, even the secret documents on the Red and Blue simulation.

"The body that you believed to be yours, it was Jimmy's body. You were implanted in his neural implants to be tricked into thinking that you were human." Nightshade said stony as she crossed her arms. 

Church was quiet for a long time as he stared at the files before he winced and touched his head as if he had a headache. He inhaled sharply before looking at Nightshade in her dark purple, almost black armor. 

"You're Robin." He merely said. 

Nightshade stiffened and dropped her arms again. "How did you.....?" She was saying.

"It's starting to come back to me. Memories. My own, Doctor Church's, Jimmy's. Holy shit. You have got to be kidding me!" Church said before he began to flare up red and Omega cackled softly while Theta and Iota whimpered. "I remember now. It's not all there. I'm missing some pieces." 

"It is because we are missing Epsilon. He is Alpha's memories. We are incomplete and cannot be completed again as one until all pieces are together again." Sigma finally spoke up as he now stepped towards Church.

Church looked at him before looking at Nightshade. "I remember it now. Jimmy. I always thought.....he told me about you. And it always confused me because it was my thoughts. My feelings about Tex. Now that you're fucking this shit, telling me who and what I really am, it wasn't me. It wasn't Tex. It was you and Jimmy. My thoughts was his thoughts. I thought his life was mine." He said warily. "I don't fucking say this. Like ever! But I'm sorry! I am so sorry that happened to Jimmy. He was a good guy from what I remember from his memories. And he loved you. Like, a lot. He thought about you all the time. Even when he was trapped inside my....his body." He told her.

There was a very long silence as Nightshade and Church stared each other down before she nodded stiffly. 

"It wasn't in your control. Was it?" 

"No. It wasn't. And if it had been, I can guarantee you, I would done anything to keep him alive. Not just for my sake. For his and yours. What was done to him was fucking bullshit." Church said firmly. "And now that I know the truth, I want to help you pay back those sons of bitches. Flowers and Doctor Church. He tortured me. I know it. Because only through torture could he get these guys." He motioned to the other AIs, which began to glow fiercely. 

They were all in agreement in that statement. 

"Okay. Then you help me find Butch Flowers and the Director and the Reds and Blues. I will help you." Nightshade said firmly. 

Church shook his head. "We will help you find Butch Flowers and the Director but you leave the Reds and Blues the hell alone." He said firmly. 

Nightshade growled at that. "They helped kill Jimmy......" she was saying. 

"They didn't fucking do anything. They didn't even fucking know what was going on. And Caboose.....yeah. He ACCIDENTALLY blew me up with my own god damned tank. The guy is an idiot but he is probably the most innocent guy ever. Jimmy liked him. I didn't!" Church said sharply. "If we ever find the Reds and Blues, you don't fucking hurt them, got that?" He paused before snorting in humor. "Well......actually you could kick their asses but don't kill them."

There was another pause before Nightshade made an amused sound. "All right then. We have a deal. We help you, you help us. We're partners. And I've already heard about you." She pointed the look at both Sigma and Omega. "If you think about trying to back stab us, both of you, I will tear you apart. Got that?" 

"I would love to see you try, pathetic human!" Omega growled and chuckled darkly.

"O'Malley, shut the fuck up!" Church growled at the dark purple AI. 

Nightshade glared at the AI before looking at Larkspur. "Larkspur, can you......?" She was asking. 

Larkspur just giggled before she typed on her wheelchair control panel. "Yep! I'm on it, Rob! Administrating a light jolt to the purple guy!" She practically sang.

ZAP!

"YEOWWIE!" Omega yelped when a form of static zapped out from the top of the containment unit at hom. 

The other AIS bolted away from him and cringed as they saw him be zapped. 

"Holy shit! What was that?!" Church yelped as he scooted away from Omega who was sitting on his duft in shock. 

"Safety protocols against rampaging AIS. It's just a light jolt. Kind of static electricity from an electric fence. It keeps wild AIS in line." Larkspur said cheerfully. "My own invention. Each of the AIS need to be uploaded into a neural implant. And guess what? Each of the implant, that safety protocol is in it."

The AIS stared at her. 

"Dibs." Delta suddenly said and received surprised looks from his fellow AIs. 

"What?" Church asked. 

"Dibs. I call dibs on being her AI." Delta said motioning to Larkspur. "I apologize, Hemlock. I do know we have history working together. But I would prefer being transplanted into a more.....intelligent mind."

Hemlock snorted now raising an eyebrow at the green AI. "Dude, D. Did you just call me stupid?" He asked teasingly. 

Delta shook his head. "Not at all, Hemlock. I just mean......" he was saying. 

"Heh, I know, D. I'm just giving you a hard time. Believe me, you're my buddy. But I don't think I can handle you running diagnostics all the time when I'm trying to sleep again. With Larkspur, here, she lives and breathes intelligent talk." Hemlock said chuckling before looking at Theta. "I'll take Theta. I know I'm not North, Theta, but....do you mind.....?" 

Theta just flashed pleasantly before zipping over to stand before him. "Of course not, York! I mean, Hemlock!" He finally spike and everyone of the girls stared. 

"Holy poly bowl of ravioli. Is he a kid?" Foxtrot asked in surpruse. 

Hemlock shrugged now smiling. "Kind of. He's Alpha's Trust. He's pretty shy at first, but once you get him out of his shell, he's a bundle of energy." He said before looking at Nightshade.

Nightshade nodded back as she looked at the other AIs. "I know you would more and likely want to stay together but you're all too much for just one person to handle inside their head. Most of the time, my team sticks together so you won't ever be far from each other. You all right with that?" She asked firmly. 

Church shrugged. "Fine by me. If I have to listen to Gamma's knock knock jokes any more, I'll freak the fuck out." He remarked giving the said grey AI look. He then looked at Nightshade. "So......who are all of your friends anyway? You call yourself Nightshade now?"

Nightshade nodded as she lift her head up higher. "Yes. I'm Nightshade." She motioned to Hemlock. "You know him as York but he is now Hemlock. My right hand is Foxtrot. She's meaner than she looks. No push over so whoever ends up with her, do your best not to piss her off." She motioned over to Larkspur. "My Intelligence officer is Larkspur. She doesn't go on the missions we take because she is wheelchair bound. She is paralyzed from the waist down, courtesy of some asshole Freelancers that were sent after us because we were snooping around. But she is the smartest person I know." 

She motioned to the armored girl in periwinkle pink and lavender. "That is my explosives expert, Autumn Crocus. She's a hyperactive, great ball of energy, and she also has a split personality. So be ware. She's kind of crazy. Her dark personality is kind of a bitch." Nightshade stated with a tight smile in her helmet.

"Wolfsbane," she motioned to the very dark blue and black armored girl, who merely folded her arms. "Is our hand to hand expert. She is very deadly and can kill someone in 72 different ways with her bare hands." 

And as for our last," she motioned to the yellow, red, orange and blue trimmed armored girl who stood quietly in the corner. "That is Oleander. She is our weapons specialist. She can use any weapon and is quite the sharp shooter." She told the AIs. 

"And, we are The Deadly Bouquet." Hemlock said in amusement. 

Blank stares from the AIs. 

"The Deadly......what?" Sigma was the one to ask blankly. "You named yourselves after flowers?"

Nightshade hummed in dark amusement before folding her arms. "The one we want the most is Butch Flowers. He is the one who chose Jimmy and got him killed in the first place. We're killing him with his own name." She said firmly. "We named ourselves after some of the most poisonous flowers known to mankind." 

"Uh....okay. I think we can get that." Church said grimacing. "So what now?" 

"We will pair each of you up with one of us. Looks like you do out number us a little bit so two of us will handle two AI. But other than that, we get to work hunting down the Director and Butch Flowers." Nightshade said. 

"Ye-ah, on that note, by the way, Butch Flowers died from an Aspirin overdose." Church said grimacing as he looked at her.

"Puh-lease, aspirin overdose? That's fucking bullshit. We searched Blood Gulch and didn't find his body, anywhere. He is alive. And he is hiding from us. He does know we are coming for him. Larkspur has found some evidence to where he might be and we've been trying to chase him down. But every time we get close, he disappears again. Trust me. He is alive. He has left some evidence to that." Nightshade said darkly. "But with your help, we might be able to finally catch up to the asshole." 

Church shrugged as he glanced at his fellow AIs. "Okay. Whatever you say. On the side note, since we are missing my memories, can we find the guys? If you're right, they have Espilon. And I need him to remember some shit. If we had him, I might be able to tell you more of how to find Doctor Church and Flowers." He stated. 

Nightshade nodded as she looked around at her team. "Okay then. We can do that. Larkspur, implant Delta into your neural system and get to work. Track down the Reds and Blues. Church, you're with me then. I need you to tell me everything we need to know about your old team. Just so I know what to expect from them." 

Church snorted but stepped closer to her. "Heh, you're going to regret knowing anything about those fucking morons." He told her. 

Later in the end, Nightshade did regret even asking once he told her everything about his old team and rivals.

But either way, she knew what to expect.


	4. Facing A Monster

The new alliance with the Alpha and his fragments turned over a better leaf for the Deadly Bouquet. They helped them with missions they went on. 

Nightshade kept Church with her, knowing fairly well he hated being called Alpha. She found herself getting along with him, even if he was a bit of an ass. He was sarcastic but he did keep it at a limit after she grounded him into Larkspur ' AI containment unit for 24 hours after making some remarks about how she ran the team. 

Foxtrot did end up with Omega in her neural transplants but the usually angry always AI found out very fast that she could not be manipulated or deceived in any way because she was one tough bitch. 

Autumn Crocus kept Iota and Eta with her, which settled with her personalities. She was good with them and they seemed to like her well enough. 

Gamma did end up with Wolfsbane, and hated it. She did not have a sense of humor. She didn't care for his jokes but didn't flip out like the others did. But he did work with her well enough. 

Sigma did end up with Oleander and it seemed to work out. He also discovered quickly while she was very quiet, she could not be manipulated by him in any way. He did try but it didn't work out in her favor. She was quiet but there seemed to be something about her that he liked because he never seemed to try and manipulate her. 

Church and the other AIS eventually did ask him about her, since she was quite a mystery to them, and Sigma just smiled. 

An actual smile. 

Not a manipulative one. Not one that showed secret plans of world domination. He actually smiled a genuine smile at his fellow AIS and said, "I like her. She's creative." 

And that was the end of that. 

If it were being honest, it actually kind of worried the other AIs. They didn't learn anything about Orleander. She still remained a mystery to them and Sigma wasn't talking.

Delta was getting along marvelously with Larkspur and they seemed to grow fast friends pretty quickly. They were very good together and did contribute a lot to the team. 

And of course, Theta kept everyone entertained when he finally came out of his timid shell. He was the kid of the group, of course and everyone adored him. He was adorable and it seemed all of the AIS appreciated how the group of deadly flowers treated Theta. Even the rough one, Foxtrot. They all liked him.

However the search for Butch Flowers was not going as well as they all hoped. 

There were traces of him and they followed leads but he always seemed to be one step ahead of them. He did leave bread crumbs to follow and those bread crumbs were usually bombs in the warehouses when they went looking for him. 

It was thanks to the AIS that no one was ever killed but they now knew that he was alive. The last message he left behind for the Deadly Bouquet proved that. 

He literate left a recorded message for them. 

"Hello, you've reached my last hiding place. I'm not here right now. In fact, I kind of left that place because you're following me." His recorded message had said. "But if you leave your name and number, I will never get back to you because you will blown into itty bitty pieces in ten seconds! Have a nice day! Or not!" 

Never had The Deadly Bouquet ran so fast and hard in their lives and even then, it had taken a great strain on Theta when he threw up an energy bubble as they ran when the whole warehouse went up. 

The poor little guy was out for a week and that even fed a fire in the AIS as well as the special ops assassins. 

They were now more determined to finding Butch Flowers more than ever because of poor Theta.

And that lead them to an old Freelance training facility that Church remembered about. They had looked everywhere else but couldn't find him so when he came across this one, they went to check it out. 

They hit a bigger mother load than they once thought. 

The facility definitely looked abandoned. It was completely run down and looked as if it hadn't been used in ages. 

"Are you sure this is the place, Church?" Nightshade asked as she lead the team, minus Larkspur, of course through the run down facility. 

"For the last fucking time, Night, yes." Church said irritable as he hovered over her shoulder. "This is the last place that is even on the list. If he isn't here, I don't know where the fuck he could be." 

"Getting mouthy again there, Church. Watch it or you're grounded again." Nightshade said blankly before shooting the two snickering Autumn Crocus and Hemlock a look, who held their hands up.

"Oh, shut it, Night." Church said without any real bitterness but amusement. If he had to be honest, he was fond of her. They had grown close over their arrangement of being partners. "This is the last place he could be. So let's check it out." 

Nightshade huffed but lead the team towards a large metal door they saw. She didn't want to admit it but she was growing fond of Church too. She banter ed with him but she did see a side of him that she didn't realize he had. She wasn't exactly sorry to say that she liked him. 

"Attention!" A voice suddenly spoke up, making all of them stiffen and look at a control panel they hadn't really noticed. "You are entering a restricted facility. Please leave or you shall be......"

"Wait, Sheila?" Church suddenly asked in surprise as he hovered closer to the control panel. 

There was a pause and the AI called Phyllis, also dubbed Sheila seemed surprised. "Oh! Hello, Director! I apologize! I didn't realize it was you!" 

Church paused before huffing. "Uh....yeah. It's me, all right. What are you doing here?" He asked frowning as he hovered by Nightshade. 

"Um....well, I am the AI who guards this Freelance facility, Director. You should know that." Sheila said sounding confused. 

"Uh....oh, yeah. Guess my....erm...old age is starting to get to me. So....can you open the door? We would like to go inside." Church said sharing a glance with Nightshade. 

"But of course, Director! This is your facility! I shall open the entrance right now!" She paused. "But....didn't you ask me to shut down all facilities and erase all files? I thought you were inside." She stated. 

They all froze in alarm. 

"Uh.....I changed my mind, Sheila. Ignore that order for a minute! I forgot to do something first!" Church stated quickly. "Before you erase everytging, transfer me a back up of all Freelance files and and then erase everything." 

"Hmm. I get the feeling you are being contridicting, sir. But I shall do as you ask. Sending you a back up of all files now." Sheila said as she started doing as she was asked. 

"Thanks, Sheila. We're going in now." Church said before looking at Nightshade who nodded and lead the way towards the now open door of the facility. She didn't know what to expect from this one so she readied her gun.

"What do you think she meant she thought you were inside?" Autumn Crocus asked as she walked inside the facility with everyone. 

"It means the Director is here. Doctor Leonard Church is here at this facility. Looks like we are going to be facing our maker." Church said blankly.

"Well, if that's the case, let's go say hi." Nightshade said coldly as she lead the way. 

The facility was a mess.

There definitely had been a fight here when they walked. They had found a large open room where there were a lot of dead robots laying around. 

Though Church did choke when he saw them. 

"Holy shit! Those are a lot of Tex'! What the hell is Tex.....all of these Tex' come from?!" Church asked in shock to see so many.

"Um.....I don't know who that is but okay." Autumn Crocus said. 

"Friend of yours?" Nightshade asked looking at her transparent partner.

"Ex-girlfri......." Church was saying but paused before slumping. "Beta. One of my fragments. Doctor Church......he was making her over and over again. She was.....his wife....." he sounded frustrated as he tried to remember.

Nightshade reached up and cupped her hand around him, almost comforting around him and startling him. "Don't strain yourself trying to remember, Church. You'll remember everything when we find Epsilon. But I get it." She looked around at the robots before touching her helmet. "Larkspur, you read?" 

"Delta and I read you loud and clear, Nightshade." Larkspur spoke on the coms. 

"You're connected to our cams. Can you get a reading on Beta? Is she still here?" Nightshade asked and recieved curious looks from her team. She shrugged. "This Beta is apart of Alpha. Well....Church. We said we would help become whole again. That means all of the pieces."

"Thanks, Night." Church said actually sounding grateful to her. 

"Well there's good news and bad news. Which one do you want first?" Larkspur asked. 

"Start with the bad." Nightshade stated wearily. 

"Okay. I'm just going to give it to you straight up. She is there still. But she's unresponsive. Delta is running scans on the AI there and he says that she is shutting down. She is going rampant. If you save that piece, Church needs to absorb her now. But if he does, she won't be Beta any more. She will be gone for good but still apart of him." Larkspur stated. 

Church sighed but then moved forward away from Nightshade. "So it's goodbye Tex, then?" He asked rather softly. 

"Well, she will still be a apart of you, Church. But yeah. And you have to hurry. Her shutdown is at 95%. You wait any longer, she is going to be gone either way." Larkspur told him.

Church nodded before heaving a deep sigh. "Okay. What do I have to do?" He asked sounding tired. 

"Well.....enter the robot where she is. Go talk to her before she shuts down and the reabsorb her matrix. Better hurry because she just raised to 97%." Larkspur told him. 

Church nodded before flashing and he was gone. 

"How well do you think this is going to end for him?" Wolfsbane asked solemnly. 

Nightshade was quiet for a good moment before shaking her head. "It's just like me and Jimmy, Sam. He's losing his girl. She might have been one of his fragments but she was still his girlfriend in his own mind. He's probably going to be hurting for a little while." She said warily before looking around and frowning when she saw a closed doorway. 

She heard a voice. 

"Be right back." She said before heading towards it. 

Everyone frowned as they saw her go but they all waited for Church to finish with Tex. They didn't know where she was going but either way, they let her have her space. 

Heading to the door and it opened for her, Nightshade found herself in some kind of office with a single glowing screen replaying a video clip over and over again. 

A clip of a woman.

A blonde woman with such beauty, dressed in OST armor and trying to leave but whoever was recording kept stopping her, teasing her. 

Nightshade frowned but looked to what was in front of the screen, stiffening when she saw a slumped figure.

A man sat in a chair before the screen and judging by the pool of blood growing under the chair, and the gun hanging from his finger tips on the floor, he had shot himself. 

Frowning seriously, Nightshade pulled out her own gun and trained it on him, moving over to stand right in front of him. She found herself looking right at Leonard Church. 

And the fucker was barely alive. He had shot himself in the chest, probably aiming for his own heart but it seemed he was barely hanging on. 

His breathing was raspy, his head lulled back but his eyes still open, though very weakly. He looked right at her with dull green eyes. 

Not sensing the strength for him to fire at her with the gun, Nightshade lowered hers and looked stony at him. "Hello, Doctor Church. We meet at last." She said coldly. 

Doctor Church did frown weakly but couldn't find the strength to move other than furrow his brow in confusion. "Wh-who........?" He managed choke out from the blood that was flooding his windpipe. 

"My name is Nightshade. I am from a group I formed called the Deadly Bouquet. I've been hunting you down for a long fucking time." 

There was recognition in his eyes as he breathed raspy. 

"Ah........Rob.......in......Tyk-Tyker...I've heard.....of you......" Doctor Church rasped, barely nodding his head. "Flori......Florida.....told me......about you......" 

"So you know what the fuck you took from me." Nightshade growled out. 

Doctor Church didn't resin but his eyes flicked past her at the screen of the woman. He barely dipped his head. "I....do. And......I am......deeply sorry......you and......I've are....the same.....we've lost who we loved the most...." he was saying. 

Nightshade bared her teeth as she felt the rush of rage flood through her at his words. She was not like him! 

"I am not like you! I don't hurt people to get what I want!" She snapped. 

Doctor looked back at her weakly but did raise one brow. "Is.....that....so? I was.....told differently....." he stated. "Are you.....not....hunting for the ones......who took James Burnes......away?" 

There was a pause and Nightshade stiffened. 

She saw his point. 

She was hunting down the ones who killed Jimmy. She was hurting people for her sake of revenge. Maybe....she was like him. 

"........see my.....point.....and I do not.....blame you for your.....anger at his......death....." Doctor Church said weakly as he looked right into her eyes. "I......was selfish......in my endeavors......I und-understand that now......I pushed the one I had left......away.....because of my desires.....of having.....her back....." his eyes flicked back to the screen and tears formed in his eyes. 

Deep inside, Nightshade felt her heart twist. 

She saw his pain. She saw his anger and pain of losing the one he loved the most. She understood that now. And she did feel sorry for him. 

That was why she raised her gun, aiming for his head. 

Doctor Church looked at her but his lips curved up in the slightest. ".......I've....deleted the....files.....but Phyllis did say.....you managed to copy them before th.....they were completely Defraged into nothing......I....did not....choose James......Burnes......Miss Tyker.......Florida did. And.....while I did.....approve of his choice......I understand the need.....for consolation. The need.....for satisfaction of.......revenge.....that is why....I will tell you.......Florida.....is well protected now.....He is no.....longer in my service....he has joined another......"

"Where and who?" Nightshade asked coldly but there was a softness in her voice as well. 

"Har......grove......Flowers....is in the service of Charon......my rivals.....you will not be able to get to him.......alone." Doctor Church said and he was fading but slowly. 

"I won't be alone." Nightshade said blankly. 

Doctor Church just shook his head in the slightest. "You.....or your team......cannot face him......alone.....Hargrove......of Charon.....is a difficult man.....to destroy.....and he does know of what we did. He approves of it......." he told her weakly. "No one......knows of James.....because of him. He....no longer exists....in any files........in existence.....to protect Flowers.......Jim......Jimmy does....not exist....and by more.....because of Hargrove......you want Flowers.....you have to kill Hargrove......to get to him.....otherwise.....you and your team......will die....." 

Nightshade frowned as she took it all in. She would have to consider this carefully. If what he said was true....she was going g to have a hard time. 

"So what do you suggest?" 

"......join forces......with my....daughter.....Carolina.....she can help you.....get Hargrove.....and Flowers.....she knows....how Florida fights.....he may seem ditty and pathetic....in some sense but.....my agent is....very dangerous.....if it were not.....for my orders of staying low class......Florida would have been at the top....of my Freelancers........ratings.....he will kill you......with a smile on his face if.....you are not.....careful.....he may seem friendly but that is but a mask he wears......." Doctor Church stated weaker by the second. 

Nightshade slowly nodded. She didn't know a lot a out Flowers but if what Doctor Church was saying was true.....she was probably in for a fight of her life with Flowers. 

"Thank you then." She merely said. 

Doctor Church just dipped his head before groaning and coughing up more blood. He was suffering bad from his self inflicted wounds, that was for sure. 

"I.....wish you....luck.....in killing Flowers...Nightshade......you're going to need it......" he choked out. 

Nightshade just nodded. "Where is Carolina?" She asked as she began to tighten her finger on her gun trigger. 

"........gone......ship.....picked her up.....with the Reds....and Blues......from what I know.....the ship just left.....moments ago.....take Phyllis with you......she can.....help......" Doctor Church said as he choked again on blood. 

"I don't need Phyllis, Doctor. I have someone better." Nightshade said firmly. 

And it was right that moment that Church flashed right next to her. 

"Hey! Where the fuck did you.....oh." the little AI was saying but stopped when he saw the Director of Project Freelance. "Oh, shit." 

Doctor Church's dull eyes did brighten in some sense of surprise. He did lift his head slightly. "Al......Alpha....I thought you...were lost......"

"Only to you, asshole!" Church growled out in anger. "What you fucking did to me! You fucking dick!" 

"Church......stop. He's already dying. There's no point." Nightshade told him as she looked at her partner. 

"Fuck that, Night! That fucker hurt everyone! Me! You! Tex! York! Everyone! He deserves this!" Church snarled starting to glow red. 

"Yes.......I do......." Doctor Church spoke up before Nightshade could say it. And it surprised the two as they looked at the dying man. He just looked sadly at them. "Alpha.......I am....so-sorry......I am so......sorry.....I know you're. .......an AI......but I hurt you.....and Carol.......the most......and I deserve pain......in my death...... I am sorry.....I.....leave it all to you......to erase everything i did......I leave everything..to...you....Leonard...Church...." 

There was an unsettling silence before Nightshade tightened her grip on the gun. 

And pulled the trigger, blowing the dying man's brains out. 

Church had jumped but looked at her in shock. "What the fuck......?!" He was saying. 

"He deserved to suffer, Church. But I showed him mercy by ending it faster." Nightshade said before turning when she heard running. She saw her team enter, guns raised, weapons primed for a fight. 

"What the hell......oh......" Foxtrot said when she saw the dead man. 

Hemlock hissed now hurrying over and gaping at Doctor Church in shock. "Holy.......it's him! What happened......?!" He was asking. 

"We have what we need. Doctor Church gave me his apologies to what he did and it was enough." Nightshade said now starting to walk away. "Come on, everyone. We still have to hunt down Flowers. But we will need help finding him." 

Everyone hurried after her and Church as they were leaving. 

"Where are we going now?" Wolfsbane asked. 

"To find the Reds and Blues. We need their help. And the last remaining Freelancers' help. Flowers is more dangerous than we thought." Nightshade said firmly. "Doctor Church told me what to expect. Florida is more dangerous than everyone thinks. And we need Carolina to help us get to him." 

Hemlock sucked in air as he looked at her in shock. "Carolina........" he said breathlessly. 

"Yes, Hemlock. Your girlfriend. We need her help and we need to find her and the Reds and Blues. We cannot do this by our selves." Nightshade said firmly before she lead the way back to their hidden ship. 

It was time to face the biggest morons in the universe and get their help to get the more dangerous prey.


	5. Into the Mix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally......

It took 212 days to find out where the Reds and Blues were. 

And at that time, Nightshade was irritated because of how long it took to find out what became of them. She was getting restless and the others knew she was frustrated with how long it was taking to get her vengeance for Jimmy. 

But......they finally found them. 

On Chorus.

Problem was, and it was Delta who pointed it out to them, thankfully in time before the tractor beams locked on their ship and made them crash. 

"So there's a tractor beam initiated? Why?" Nightshade asked in irritation as they sat hundreds of miles away from the planet. 

"From what I can tell, by the planet's history, there are two groups in this place. And they're at a civil war with each other. From what I can see, there are alien artifacts found here and they are highly dangerous weapons of mass destruction." Larkspur said as she and Delta ran scans on the planet. "Looks like whoever is down there is trapping passing by ships and dragging them down to continue their war. They don't want any of the other to leave so they can destroy one another." 

"Well, that's fucking bullshit! What if they needed help and no way to get that help if they just crashed the god damned ships?!" Church exclaimed just as irritated as Nightshade.

"I think the point is they don't want help. They don't want to give the other group advantage over their war." Foxtrot stated as she folded her arms. 

"And the Reds and Blues are down there somewhere?" Nightshade asked glancing at Larkspur. 

The girl in the wheelchair nodded. "Yeah. That's where the last transmission their ship came from before it crashed." He looked at her green AI friend. "Delta, pull up the visual scans of the crashed ship please."

"Right away, Larkspur." Delta said before flashing green and the images popped up for them. 

It showed half of a ship in a box canyon like area and it was a mess. The ship had been demolished, ripped apart but there were signs of a base there. Two scrappy buildings sat on opposite sides of the canyon and it was not unlike what was in Blood Gulch.

"That crash looks pretty bad. Any survivors?" Hemlock asked in concern and everyone knew it was mostly Carolina he was probably ly thinking of. 

"According to several transmissions that I am picking up, everyone but the Reds and Blues died in the crash. Somehow they survived." Delta spoke up. 

"How do we know it was them?" Autumn asked curiously. 

Delta flashed gently before pulling up audio transmissions. "There were several SOS transmissions that came from that communications tower. None of them seemed to be able to leave the planet. They are very garbled as it is. But I have been able to bounce the transmissions off several towers in my analysis and this is what I found." He told them before playing one. 

"This....is.....Washing......anyone read......! Hello! This is Agent Wash.....ton from Project Freelance! Does any one read me?! Anybody!"

"Wash!" Hemlock said now very surprised. "He is alive! I thought he was dead!" 

"Hm. Any way of contacting them?" Nightshade asked glancing at Larkspur and Delta. 

Both shook their heads as they looked back at her. "No. None whatsoever. The transmissions are outgoing but we can't seem to send them one back. But....according to some of the data logs recorded in the transmissions, Washington stated that they were attacked by some of the Federals. A well known mercenary named Locust attacked them intending to kill or capture." Larkspur said and everyone frowned at that. 

"I've heard of Locust. He was a part of a three man team who did some pretty high established missions. He apparently went crazy and he wanted to be more like Agent Maine, or the Meta." Foxtrot said glancing at two hovering AIS, Omega and Sigma, who did look a little sheepish.

Nightshade frowned but nodded. She had heard of Locust, herself. The days of being a part of the Deadly Bouquet allowed them to know about potential threats to the team and Locust was one of them. 

Him and his partner, Felix. 

Their third partner, the name lost to only rumors was dead at the hands of locust when he had went crazy as the rumors went. 

The story went that Locus just snapped and killed their partner. And then he disappeared, right with Felix. No one knew where they were and what happened to them. But it did sound like they were here now. 

"Okay. So what happened?" Nightshade asked frowning. 

Larkspur shrugged and shook her head as she typed at her consol and even Delta tried finding the truth, himself. "According to these reports I can gather, Locus is apart of the Federals. Felix is apart of the Republic. They've been trying to kill each other since the death of their third partner." She stated. "And according to these reports, the Reds and Blues got attacked. Half of them ended up with the Republic. The others with the Federals. Agent Washington, and three Reds ended up with the Federals. Two Blues and two Reds ended up with the rebels." 

"Something doesn't add up here. We've all heard of Felix and Locust. They are quite the con men. They are really good at pulling the wool over people's eyes. How could they be trying to kill each other?" Nightshade asked frowning. 

Everyone shrugged. 

"My only thoughts on this is they're not." Sigma spoke up and everyone looked at him in surprise. 

"What's that suppose to mean, Sig?" Foxtrot asked frowning at the fiery AI. 

Sigma shook his head as he folded his arms behind his back. "They're not trying to kill each other. They are mercenaries. Hired killers. They work for the highest paying companies. And judging by what we looked up when we researched Hargrove of Charon, I did find some hint that they are working for him. And war.....is an opportunity of the highest financial substances. There are alien artifacts on the planet. Who would not want those artifacts for their own uses?" 

"Weapons......." Nightshade said in dawning. "Hargrove would want those as weapons. And because there is a civil war, he wouldn't want anyone else to know about them until he had them in his own hands."

"And he can't just go down there and get them because of the people there." Wolfsbane said now stiffening.

It all dawned on the team. 

"Holy fucking shit. You mean, these two are pretending to be enemies just to make people kill each other?!" Church asked in alarm. 

Nightshade nodded as she looked grim. "Yeah. That has to be it. Hargrove wants those weapons but he doesn't want anyone to know about them. Not yet. And these people would pose a threat to his plans. He is willing to kill hundreds of people for these. So he must be using Locus and Felix to fuel the war between the Federals and the Republic so they would kill each other." She said firmly. 

"We can't let that happen! And the guys! They're down there! They can be killed!" Church said now frantic. 

Nightshade raised a hand to calm him. "We won't let that happen, Church. I promise. We will help them. We need them, our selves. But they are your friends. We will save them." She said to him. 

Church froze before scoffing. "They're not my friends! They're a bunch of.......!" He was saying. 

"They're your friends, Church." Nightshade interrupted. "You care about what happens to them. And we won't let them be hurt."

Everyone stared at her, a little surprised but they all smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, Night." Was all Church could say. 

Nightshade nodded before steeling herself and looking around at everyone. "All right. This is what we're going to do. We need to find out more of what's going on. From both sides and we need to find a way to expose Hargrove, Locust and Felix without getting anyone killed. And we need to make contact with the Reds and Blues. We also need to find out where Epsilon and Carolina is. So far we only know about Washington but not her. So......this is what we will do. We will split up in two teams. 

Oleander, Wolfsbane, and Autumn will go to the Republics and intermingle with them. Mix yourself into them and keep an eye on Felix. Oleander, you're in charge of that team." Nightshade told her and the sunset colored soldier nodded as she stepped forward. They all agreed. "Foxtrot, Hemlock and I will go to the Federals and intermixed with them. Do not let Felix or Locust figure out who you are. That will blow our cover. We need evidence that they are working for Hargrove and we need a way to expose him."

"Okay! Wait! Stop!" Church blurted out and everyone looked at him in surprise. 

"What?" Nightshade asked looking at her partner. 

Church gave her a skeptical look as he folded his arms. "Okay, so I've been quiet about it for a long time now. I haven't really asked because it's none of my business but right now, I have to fucking say it." He motioned to Oleander, who seemed to just remain quiet as usual. "Oleander? You're putting Oleander in charge of the other team?" 

Pause; no reaction from Orleander.

"Ye-ah." Nightshade said slowly, her brow obvious furrowed. "So?" 

"So?! What the fuck, Nightshade?! Why is Oleander in charge! I don't know anything about her! She is such......she is so fucking quiet that more then an half of the time I don't know if she is in the fucking room! She's fucking creepy sometimes, no offense, Oleander. But I'm just a little......" Church was saying. 

Oleander huffed but stepped forward, raising a hand. "No, you're right." She spoke up, making all look at her in surprise. "All this time, you don't know shit about me. And I know Sigma isn't telling you anything." She reached up and unpressurized her helmet, setting it down before she looked right at Church, who stood stalk still in surprise. 

This was the first time he had ever seen Oleander without her helmet. He had seen Nightshade, of course. He had seen everyone without their helmet. 

But not Oleander. 

Oleander was a rather pretty girl under that helmet. Though, that be saying, it was an understatement too. She was drop dead gorgeous with the exception of having a glowing green left eye. Literately and just a little scarring around that eye. 

She had shoulder length strawberry blonde hair which she kept pulled back into a tight bun on the back of her head. Her one eye was leaf green and peering at everyone with a mischief. She had a heart shaped face and perfect lips. She looked like she would have been a model at one time if not for the scars around her left, obviously cyber kinetic eye. 

"What do you want to know, Church?" Oleander asked smiling at him. 

Church stayed quiet for a moment before grimacing. He didn't say anything as he just stared. 

Sigma flashed beside Oleander and hummed in amusement. "He wants to know about your eye." He blurted out and was huffed at by Church. He just looked lazily back. "She lost her real eye during a mission with the others before all of this happened." 

Church blinked in surprise. 

Oleander nodded as she shared a glance with Nightshade. "My specialty is weapons, as you know. I can run any weapon you put into my hands." She said and for some reason, it made Church twitch as he listened to her. There was just something uncomfortable about listening to her. "You put any weapon in my hand, it bends to my very will. The weapon and I becomes one." And the way she was saying it sounded more.......seductive. She sounded like she was actually seducing with her words.

"Um.....is it me or does it sound like you're being flirtatious?" Church said now twitching uncomfortable again. 

Everyone else laughed as Oleander just grinned, straightening herself. 

"Uh.....another one of Oleander's skills is seduction." Nightshade just said snickering. "She's actually really good with close combat kills like Wolfsbane is. She seduces one into being comfortable around her before she kills them. She is actually pretty dangerous." 

Church grimaced as he eyed Oleander. "Do you like sex jokes?" He asked blankly. 

There were chokes of surprise and everyone gaped at him in shock. 

Oleander just laughed but raised her eyebrow at him. "Yeah. Why?" She asked curiously but amused. 

"Pick up lines?" 

"......sure? I guess. As long as they're not too ridiculous. Though the lame ones are really funny and they actually make me laugh." Oleander said shrugging. "Why?" And there was a slight warning in her yone to not push it further. 

Church snorted now turning away. "You're going to get along with Tucker just fine. In fact I think he's going to like you. A LOT!" He said quite loudly with a roll of his head before looking at Nightshade.

"Night," Larkspur spoke up now gaining everyone's attention. "I don't want to stay on the ship this time. I want to go with Oleander's team." 

That made everyone freeze. 

Nightshade looked uncomfortable now as she faced their wheelchair bound tech. "Larkspur, you can't. You're in a wheelchair. It'll be too......." she was saying. 

Larkspur slapped the arm of her chair. "Stop, Robin! Now!" She made everyone jump in alarm. Even Wolfsbane who never lost her cool. "Look! I know I am paralyzed from the waist down! And you're still blaming yourself that you didn't kill Kentucky before he stabbed me in the spine! And I know what you're going to say but I feel useless just sitting up here all of the time! I want to be back in the battle field!" 

"Ginny, you're not useless. You're our most valuable player because of your intellect." Nightshade said with a sigh. "But I can't let you go down there. You won't be any use of you get......." 

"Knock it off, Rob!" Larkspur said now furious and again everyone jumped at the tone of her voice. "I will not be useless! Just because i can't walk like everyone else doesn't mean I am! I can be more help when I am down there! You know very well that Felix will underestimate me because I'm just a girl in a wheelchair! He won't see me as a threat even if he sees the others as one! We can use my disability to our advantage! Delta and I already got it worked out!"

There was an unsettling pause before Nightshade sighed deeply before folding her arms and shifting. "All right. What do you got?" She asked warily. 

"Hey, wait! Seriously?! You're actually considering letting her go?!" Church asked skeptical. 

Nightshade looked at him but nodded. "She's right, Church. She won't even be looked at twice because of her disability. They won't even think twice about her because she's in a wheelchair. Not Felix. Not the Republic. Not the Reds and Blues. At the most part, she will be ignored." 

Larkspur nodded now smiling. "Yeah! That's my plan! We crash the ship and get separated into our groups! Oleander, Wolfsbane, Autumn and I can go to the Republic and make contact with the Reds and Blues! You go find the others and make contact with them! It can be one way where we get into the Republic!" 

Nightshade sighed but nodded. She saw her point and it wasn't a terrible idea. "Okay then. Larkspur, you'll be playing the injured, paralyzed girl to help the other team into the Republic. I think at this point, the Republic might actually be sympathetic to you for your disability and we can use that to our advantage." She then looked at everyone else. "That also means, when we go down, under no circumstances do you let anyone see the AIS. We can't let any of them be seen." 

"Huh?! Why?!" Church asked now irritated. 

Nightshade looked at him. "If they see you, they will know who you are, Church. We don't want to let them know we have you or there is a chance that they try and take you and your AIS away from us to use for their war. You stay hidden the entire time. Got it?" 

Another long pause before everyone slowly nodded as they took it all in. 

They understood and agreed. 

"All right. We have the plan. Let's get to it. But we're not crashing the ship." Nightshade said as she looked firmly at Larkspur. "We will hide the ship in that space junk we saw a few miles back." She looked up at the ceiling. "Sheila, you'll be in charge of the ship until we are ready for you. We will take the two escape pods and go down to the surface. Got that?" 

"Understood, Nightshade." The female AI spoke up, having been quiet the entire time, biding her time to speak. 

Nodding, Nightshade looked around at everyone. "All right. Let's get to it. We keep in contact through our radios only. No one else should be able to pick up our transmissions to each other. We get into our respective groups, weed out any dirt we can get on Locust and Felix and Hargrove, and we stop them from killing everyone on the planet. Sync." 

"Sync!" Everyone else spoke up nodding as they got into their own groups. 

Therefore, they got right to it. 

Each group separated into their own escape pods, which Sheila sent right down to the planet for them to crash land. 

It was time to begin their operation.


	6. So We Finally Meet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interaction with the Reds and Blues.........

"Hey........uh, Command? Can you put me through with Kimball?"  
.  
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.  
.  
.  
.  
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"This is Vanessa Kimball, Alpha team. What do you need?" 

"Ye-ah......so while we were on that scouting mission in the B section, we found.......something." came the reply. 

"What did you find, Alpha team?" 

"......um......an escape pod. And there are four survivors. Looks like they're out cold though. We ran medical scans on them and one of them......well.....one of them seems to need medical assistance. They seem to be.....I dunno. Paralyzed from the waist down?" 

"All right. We're sending Felix and Captain Tucker with a team to your position with medical evac. What of the other three? How badly are they hurt?" The Leader asked.

"Doesn't look too bad, sir....uh...ma-am.....um.....They've just been knocked around. Looks like their pod came down pretty hard." Sheepishly. 

"Okay. Any ideas who they are?" 

"Um.....no. I'm running an identity scan on them but there's nothing on them. And I mean nothing! No identities! No files! Just a few names on their breastplates! Bit I can't find anything on them!" 

"Calm down, Alpha Team. The barrier around the planet is probably just not letting you get their names and identies. What are they called?" 

"Uh......Sam, Ginny, Autumn and Dawn. They're all women, Commander." 

"All right. Wait for evac and we will find out from them of who they are when they're here. Vanessa Kimball out." 

..............................................................................

"HALT! YOU ARE ENTERING A RESTRICTED AREA! IDENTIFY YOURSELVES OR YOU WILL BE FIRED UPON!!" 

"Don't shoot! We are a part of a group that crashed in an escape pod three miles from here! We are in need of dire help! Please! Help us! We need to find the rest of our team! And one of our own is injured!" 

There was silence for a moment. 

"IDENTIFY YOURSELVES, STRANGER!!" 

"My name," she paused for a dramatic effect. "Is Robin Tyker! My companions are Nick York and Major!" 

Pause again. 

"WHAT KIND OF NAME IS MAJOR?!" 

"HEY!! IT'S MY NAME!! YA WANNA MAKE SOMETHING OF IT, PUNK?!"

"Major, calm down!" 

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, YORK!! YOU KNOW I HATE PEOPLE MAKING FUN OF MY NAME!!"

"HEY!!" A new voice rang out and the group of three looked up right at the dark gray and yellow striped soldier that just walked into sight, looking quite stunned as he looked right at the golden tan armored soldier with disbelief. "YORK?! IS THAT YOU?!" 

York suddenly grinned as he shared a glance with Nightshade before he reached up and depressurized his helmet, looking right up at his old friend from Project Freelance. "Hey, Wash! Long time no see! Where've you been, buddy?! I thought you were dead!" 

"Tch! Goes the same for you, York! God damn it's good to see you!" Wash now said brightly before motioning to the Capitolists. "It's okay! He's an old friend! He can help us!" 

The soldiers stood down immediately, lowering their weapons. 

Wash looked back at York and sighed. "I'll tell you what, York. Carolina is going to be very happy to see you if we ever find her." He told the other former Freelancer. 

"Carol?! She's alive?! Where is she?!" York asked playing it up of being surprised. 

Wash shrugged. "It'll have no idea. She....uh....kind of took off after we crashed on this planet. She's around here somewhere and I doubt she found a way off the planet. She's just being Carolina, you know?" He said with a tired sigh. 

York just smiled, shaking his head. "Yeah, sounds like her. Hey, Wash! It's good to see you too! But can you help me and my friends here? We crashed here. And I think I might very broken a rib in our crash." He even held his side as if in pain. 

"Oh! Uh.....okay! Let me talk to these guys and we can help you! Maybe you can help us too! We lost some of our team to some this called the Republic and we've been looking for them! We got to rescue them!" Wash called back before turning to glance at the soldiers around him. 

"Im sure thats the truth." York muttered under his breath begore glancing at Nightshade...Robin as she eyed the dark green soldier standing ever so quiet behind everyone else. She was sure that Locust was eyeing her suspiciously. She knew he was on his guard with them. 

And all she could do was glare at him through her helmet. She sensed a threat when she felt it. 

"Okay! We're letting you in! Got the approval from the big guy here! He wants to meet you!" Wash said now turning back to look down at York. 

"Much appreciated, buddy! Let's catch up after I get my busted ribs taken care of! Who's your friends, by the way?" York asked motioning to the ruby red soldier that was standing directly next to Wash. 

Wash glanced over at Sarge before huffing. "Ye-ah......I got a lot to tell you, York. But this is Sarge. You can meet the others when we get you cleared. What about you? Who's your friends?" He said motioning to the two ladies. 

"Ye-ah......long story, Wash. Tell ya later." York said smiling as he glanced from Robin to Major and then looked back. 

...............................................................................

They finally woke up and found their selves amidst the ones they had set out to find. They were glad because everything was going according to plan.

Now they were sitting in a medical room with Ginny lying in the bed, who took on the miserable looking unable to walk girl. They were playing their roles they all agreed to play before they came down. 

So when they heard someone approaching, the four looked up to see a tan and purple armored woman walking up with one they recognized as Felix and an Aqua armored soldier. 

"Well, hello there." The woman said as she approached. "Glad you're all awake now. My name is Vanessa Kimball, leader of the Rebellions. How are you feeling?"

Oleander detached her own hand from Ginny's and stood to face the woman. "Were just a little disoriented. But we are grateful for the rescue. Thank you so much for all you've done for us. And thank you for lending your medical officer to tend to Ginny. We were worried that the crash jostled her old injury worse than before." 

"Yes, you're welcome. I hope she is doing okay. I'd ask how that happened to her but instead I'm just going to have to get right to business. Who are you and what are you doing on Chorus?" Kimball asked firmly now. 

Oleander just smiled but shrugged. "My name is Dawn Orleander. Just call me Oleander. This is Sam Wolfsbane, Autumn Crocus and our last member is Ginny Larkspur. We were a part of team of mercenaries, hired by the UNSC to deliver some supplies to a military facilities in the Quantum Sector when we were attacked by space pirates." She fed them the story that they all planned to. 

"We didn't have a choice but to abandon ship in escape pods because they took over our ship." Wolfsbane spoke up in her dead serious tone.

Oleander nodded in agreement as she glanced back at her then to Kimball. "We were separated with the rest of our team. They went down in the North. We would like to find them and make sure they're okay. If you can help us with that, that would be great." She stated. 

Kimball made a sound as she glanced back at the aqua soldier, who was surprisingly quiet the entire time. "Hmm. Sounds like you have something in common with our Captain here. His team mates are also missing. They were taken by our enemies, the Federals and are being held prisoner in their city." She looked back at Oleander. "I wouldn't be surprised if the same happened to your team mates as well. It sounds like they crash landed near the city. And I'm afraid there isn't a lot we can do to help you. We're kind of in a bind here. You see, we are the Republic and we are at war with conniving, controlling and murdering Federals who wish to control everything that goes on on Chorus. We are fighting a losing war, here, Oleander and we don't have enough resources to help you with. The Federals are killing a lot of people every day and we are growing weaker." 

"Hm." Oleander said tilting her head curiously. "So you're saying you're trying to save the planet from control freaks?" 

"Kind of like that. Thing is, they don't care who gets hurt in their propoganda in ruling the planet. My rebellions are fighting for freedom here and we are dropping like flies fast." Kimball said and she did sound very tired. "I wish I could help you find your team but we just can't spare any men to help you rescue them." 

"Well, maybe we can help you then." Ginny spoke up, now struggling to pull herself to sit up. "You help us find our friends, we will help you end this war." 

"You've got to be kidding me." Felix finally spoke with a scoff. 

"Ya got a problem with that?" Wolfsbane asked him with a scowl. 

Felix huffed begore looking at Kimball. "They're lying, Vanessa. They have to be. I'm not buying that bullshit they're selling. They have to be working with Federals! They're spies!" He said kind of harshly.

"Excuse me?" Oleander said sharply now shifting her weight on one foot and placing a hand on her waist. 

Felix turned to face her, clearly agitated. "You heard me. A group of hired mercenaries shows up with the same story that these guys had? And you want to help us? It's the same story as these guys! And there's no record of you! We already ran identies on you! There's nothing! So who are you really?!" 

"Felix!" Kimball snapped at him turning to face him. 

'Wolfsbane to Nightshade, we got a problem. Felix ain't buying our story. He's demanding to know who we really are.' Wolfsbane said silently through her radio after muting her vocalizer. 

"We are who we say we are, buddy." Orleander ran interference, just as agitated as Felix was. 

'Nightshade to Wolfsbane, then tell them the truth. Tell them who we are. Just don't tell him that we are onto him and Locust.' Came the reply. 

"I don't believe you! You're spies! We should kill them! Or lock them up!" Felix was saying.

'Okay. Wolfsbane out.' And the dark blue and black armored woman stood up, twisting her head a little to Crack her neck. "We are The Deadly Bouquet, Felix." She blurted out and everyone froze looking right at her. 

Felix choked now stumbling back. 

"The Deadly what?" The Aqua soldier now finally spoke up. 

Orleander stared at Wolfsbane who folded her arms bit made a hidden sign to her that she would explain later. She just stepped right up, almost face guard to face guard with Felix, who did cringe back. 

"We are The Deadly Bouquet. Special Ops from the UNSC turned mercenaries. Paid killers and theieves, hired by anyone who pays us well." Wolfsbane said coldly and even Kimball stepped back with Tucker in unease. "We crash landed here, escaping from Space pirates who attacked us. You won't find our records because Larkspur, over there, erased them from files. Along with our identies because we were hinting down Project Freelance as who who murdered our leader's fiancée. I'm sure you've heard of Nightshade, Felix. After all, we've heard of you and Locus." 

There was an unsettling silence. 

"What?" Kimball asked confused. 

Felix hissed now stepping back and reaching for his gun but Wolfsbane was faster. 

She had her gun out and pressed against his visor. 

"Whoa! What the fuck is going on here?!" Tucker asked now scrambling back. 

Wolfsbane just kept a firm grip on her gun even when Kimball had hers now trained on her. She never flinched and Felix was slowly raising his hands in surrender. "Go ahead, Felix. Tell her who we are. You know our names. We're in the same business as you were." She said now darkly amused. 

Another pause before Felix swore. 

"They're EX-UNSC assassins, Vanessa. They're paid killers. The kind of people you just want to get rid of before they kill you!" He growled out. 

"We're also better than you, Felix. Now if you accuse us of being spies again, Wolfsbane is going to shoot you." Oleander warned before looking at Kimball. "Look, we're telling you the truth. We're not a threat to you. We just want to find our team and get out off this planet." She told her.

Kimball stared at her before lowering her weapon. "You were not hired to kill us?" She asked firmly. 

Oleander shook her head as she stared her down. "No. And we don't kill anyone without being paid to. Now I will make you a deal. One you cannot afford to turn down. You help us get our leader back and our team mates, we will help you end this war. Free of charge." She said seriously. 

"Vanessa, you can't be serious to......" Felix was saying. 

Kimble snapped her attention to him, firm. "We are paying you in alien weapons, Felix. You're not here for free. They are offering their services for free. For only the charge of getting their friends back. Just like Tucker and the Reds are doing." She said sternly before she whipped down her weapon and swinging a hand to Orleander to seal the deal. "You help us, we help you. Deal?" 

Orleander now relaxed before motioning to Wolfsbane, who whipped her gun out of Felix'a face as she stepped forward and took Kimball ' hand. "Deal. What do you need help with?" She asked firmly. 

Kimball took her hand back and then motioned towards Tucker. "This is Lavernius Tucker. He's one of the famed Reds and Blues of Project Freelancer. Some of his friends were captured by the Federals and he needs help getting them back. If you can help us get his friends back, I'm sure he will be very appreciative." She stated. 

"Tch! Ya got that right! It's taking too long to find them!" Tucker grumbled now folding his arms grumpily.

Oleander glanced at him before smiling as she faced him fully. She remembered what Church had said about him so maybe she could cheer him up a little. "Well, now we're helping you, maybe we can help each other find our friends." She said now shifting her feet. "I've heard of you, Lavernius Tucker. Is it true that you're a Doctor?" 

Everyone else frowned in confusion but the other girls snorted in humor as they caught onto what she was doing. 

Tucker made a choke before snorting. "Hell yeah I am. I'm known as the Doctor of Love. Why you need a check up?" He asked sounding cheeky and ignored the groan from Felix. 

Oleander made a sound of amusement. "No. I definitely don't." She said now turning away but cocking her hip in such a way that made her friends snicker and Tucker choke slightly. "But I am known as a nurse." And she turned her head looking almost coyly. "And I tend to give full body physicals." 

Tucker choked as he had not expected that at all. He seemed lost for words as he stared at her in bewilderment.

"Of course, you have to buy me dinner first." Orleander said before looking at Kimball, who had stiffened in her own alarm. "Is there a place for us to stay?" 

"O-of course, follow me. And we will find a wheelchair for your friend." Kimball said motioning to Ginny.

Oleander just nodded before looking at Wolfsbane. "We had a wheelchair in our escape pod for Larkspur. If we can go back and get it, that would be great." She said looking at Kimball.

"Mmm.....it's actually getting late and it does get very dangerous after dark. We would have to wait until tomorrow. I can't spare any soldiers right now to go with you." Kimball said regretfully. 

"It's okay, Oleander." Larkspur said smiling at her. "This bed is comfy. Much better than the ship's cots. I could due with some some rest here for the night."

Oleander just nodded as she turned from her before looking at Kimball. "Lead the way." She said though she paused to look at Tucker, wrangling her fingers at him. "Talk to you later, Tucker." 

And she and the others began to follow Kimball out, Felix was scowling as he stormed off by himself. 

Tucker just stood there, looking after Oleander before looking at Larkspur when she giggled. "She always like that?" He asked still kind of stunned. 

Larkspur just giggled but nodded. "Most of the time, she's quiet. But you get her talking, she gets interesting. And yeah. She is like that. She's a flirty girl but most of the time, it's harmless. She teases a lot but I'm sure it's just harmless." She told him. 

 

Tucker just chuckled but shrugged. "I'd totally hit that. Bow Chicka Wow Wow." He said in amusement. 

Larkspur laughed as she clapped a hand onto her helmet. "Oh, my god! You have a saying like that?! So does she! She doesn't use it as much any more because our team mate, Foxtrot threatened to kick her ass but now and then she pops it out." 

"Really?! What's her motto?" Tucker asked quite interested. 

Larkspur grinned at him and even spared a wink at him. "Bangarang." She said simply. 

"Holy shit. Seriously?! Now I'm totally going to try and hit that!" Tucker said sounding amused before frowning and tilting his head. "Hey.....uh...you said before that you were hunting down Project Freelance guys. What does that mean?" 

Larkspur sobered a little but shrugged. "It's kind of hard to explain." She said in a quieter voice. "Another reason why we were here, we were looking for you. You and the other Reds and Blues." 

"Uh......" Tucker now said uneasily backing away. 

Larkspur shook her head. "Relax. You're not in our cross hairs. We have to find Nightshade first. She can explain a lot better than I can. Plus we have a mutual friend who asked us to come help you. Let's just say......" and she grew serious. Dead serious. "We needed your help looking for someone."

"Do I even want to know who this friend is?" Tucker asked now warily.

Larkspur smiled at him but shrugged. "Trust me, you wouldn't believe me if I told you, myself. It's better if you just see for yourself." She told him. 

Tucker backed away before motioning to the door. "Well, I'm gonna go warn the other guys about you now, if you don't mind." He said slowly.

Again Larkspur shrugged. "Okay. I can't wait to meet all of them. I've heard a lot about the whole lot of you. You all sound pretty interesting. It's nice to meet you finally, Tucker." She told him. 

The Aqua soldier just waved at her as he started to leave. "Ye-ah.....you too, I guess. See ya around." He stated before just going. 

Larkspur just relaxed on the bed, closing her eyes before smiling when she felt the familiar presence in her head. "Hey." 

'You told him a little more than you were suppose to, Ginny. Nightshade might not be happy about that.' 

" I know, D. But I think it might've been the right thing to do. At this point, they don't need any more surprises. I think they've had enough of that." Larkspur replied to her AI. 

'You could have told him about Church. That's going to surprise him.' 

"I know."


	7. Alliances

"It's really good to see you, Wash. It's been a while." York said wincing in pain as a medical officer was checking his side for broken ribs. 

"Heh, sure has been, York. What are you doing here? The last time I looked or even heard, you were dead! I heard South got you killed!" Wash said as he stood with the new arrivals in the medical facility with a lurking Locus near the door, watching them intensely. 

They all had arrived and we're waiting for the Federal Leader, Donald Doyle to make his appearence. 

York had not introduced his two lady friends yet due to being checked out for his injuries. But he was having a pleasant reunion with Wash, that was for sure. "Heh, she sure tried to get me killed, Wash. I was in a coma for a good while until it was her," he motioned to Nightshade next to him. "Who saved my life. Doctor Church had ordered my death months after that fiasco in Sidewinder. By the way, that's Robin Tyker. The tough miss next to her is Major." 

"Just Major?" Wash asked interested. 

Major just nodded. "Major Foxtrot if you want to have a full name. Is it my real name? No. But you can call me Major or Foxtrot. Take your pick." She said rather thickly. 

Wash grimaced before shrugging and motioning to the ones with him. The first was the ruby red armored soldier. "Well, since we're making introductions. That's Sarge of the Red Army of Project Freelance. The one next to him in pink is Franklin Delano Donut." He told them motioning to the pink armored soldier.

"It's Lightish Red!" 

"The brown one is Lopez and he is a Spanish speaking only robot." Wash went on, ignoring Donut. "We....um...don't ever know what he is even saying because we don't know speak Spanish."

There was an irritated sigh. 

"Hola, Senior Lopez. Cumo stas?" Foxtrot suddenly said and received startled looks for it. Other than Nightshade and York, actually. 

"Español?!" Lopez asked now sounding very relieved. 

Foxtrot just nodded and replied, "Si." She told the robot. Then she said something else that no one really could even make out and began an entire conversation with him. 

"Wait! You speak Spanish?!" Wash asked bewildered. 

Foxtrot looked at him and nodded. "Ye-ah. Why'd you build a robot that speaks only Spanish? Cause right now, he's thanking God that someone actually understands him. And he thinks you're all idiots that just needs to die." She stated. 

Awkward silence. 

York coughed uneasily but then turned back to Wash. "So, uh......how's it going, Wash? What are you doing here?" He asked now changing the subject. 

Wash sighed as he shook his head. "We crash landed and were stranded here. We were in a box canyon not far from the city." He even shot a look over his shoulder at Locus. "We....um....were kind of attacked. But it was all a misunderstanding and we were separated from some of our team. We've been trying to locate them and save them from criminals called the Republic. These guys are the Federals and they're trying to stop the Republic from terrorist attacks. They apparently didn't like being apart of a society and went all hell bent on them. There's a war going on here and we agreed to help them so we can save our men from the Republic." 

"Hm. Well maybe we can help. We are kind of in the same boat. Four of our team is missing and we have to find them." Nightshade said as she stepped forward. 

"I highly doubt you would be of help to our cause." Locus finally spoke up now stepping forward. "We do not even know who you are with the exception of the former freelancer. For all we know, you could be spies." 

Nightshade turned to face him but did hold an air of warning. "Why would we be spies? We don't even know what is going on?" She asked coolly. 

"Eh.....did it just get cold in here?" Sarge finally spoke up now backing away from the group. 

"Oh, hello!" Came a British voice and everyone looked to see quite a fancy colored man in armor walk in, having quite the cheerful step to his walk. "I am Donald Doyle, leader of the Federals! Welcome to our city! I am told that you are friends with Agent Washington! It is a pleasure to meet you!" 

And he even offered his hand in greeting. 

Nightshade turned to face him and shook his hand. "Robin Tyker. I'm also known as Nightshade of The Deadly Bouquet." She stated immediately. 

You could almost hear glass shattered as attention snapped to her and Wash even stepped back in alarm as had Locus. 

"What?!" Both blurted out. 

York frowned at her, as had Foxtrot but neither reacted as they both just folded their arms. 

"I'm sorry.....? The Deadly what?" Doyle asked quite confused. 

"Why are you here?" Locus suddenly growled, his hand obviously itching to go for his weapon and even Wash was tightening his grip on his gun. Everyone else was just confused. 

Nightshade merely turned to Locus, folding her arms. "My team. We are a group of highly established but also a little bit of troubled mercenaries. We call ourselves The Deadly Bouquet. Each member named after the most poisonous flowers known to mankind. Nightshade." She motioned to herself. She then motioned to Foxtrot. "Foxtrot is my second. York is Hemlock." 

"Yo-York?" Wash asked quite stunned. 

York just smiled with a sheepish shrug. "Yep. Afraid so, Wash. I'm a deadly flower now. Picked up the new name when Nightshade here saved my life." He told him. 

"Oh, dear. Do you mean you.....?" Doyle was asking now very uneasy as he backed away from the group. 

"You don't need to fear us, Sir. We are trained killers and assassins but we don't kill anyone we weren't paid to." Nightshade said reassuringly. "We are just mercenaries who crashed on this planet when we were attacked by space pirates. We are not going to kill you or anything. We just want to find our team mates and leave. And of course......we will be taking the Reds and Blues with us."

Again.....awkward pause. 

"What?" Wash asked blankly. 

York turned to him and even saw how uneasy the Reds looked. "It's not to kill you guys. I promise. Wash, you and I are friends. Okay? We've been looking for you guys a long time. And it's because of Florida." 

Pause and even Wash looked bewildered. 

"Might as well come clean, Nightshade." York said now lazily looking at his friend in dark armor. "Tell them." 

"Might as well." Nightshade said blankly before looking right at Wash, her arms folded. "Agent Florida to be precise. He murdered the man I loved." 

"Wait......what? Florida?" Wash asked stunned. "He.....died, like, a long time ago. Years ago. Who did he kill?" 

"He's not dead, Wash." York said with a sigh as he shifted his weight. "He's been hiding because of what he did to Nightshade's fiancée. He got him killed and Nightshade......she didn't take it very well. She is, or was on a war path. She's very determined to hunting down Florida and making him pay for what he did to her fiancée." 

There was a pause before it was Doyle who stepped forward and patted Nightshade's arm. "I am so sorry for your loss, miss. I cannot even imagine the pain you must have felt." He stated. "Unfortunately, I kind of....need the Reds and blues at the moment. You see, we are at a war with terrorists. The Republic of Chorus. They are a terrible lot. They did not like order when we established the society here. Good men and women are dying here." 

Nightshade nodded before shifting her weight. "I see. Well, maybe we can help then. I offer our services to you in exchange help to finding the rest of my team. One of my team mates, Larkspur.....she's handicapped. She is paralyzed from the waist down. And while she is with Orleander, Wolfsbane, and Autumn Crocus, she is our most vulnerable member. I am.....quite protective of her. She's like my sister and I want to make sure she is okay. Here is the deal. I help you end this war, help Washington and the Reds get their team members back, you help me find my team. We won't ask anything else. Just help us find my team." She told him.

Doyle paused before nodding. "I think that can be arranged. What do you think, Agent Washington?" He asked looking at Wash, who dipped his head down. 

"I think I need to speak to them alone, Doyle. I'd like a word with York alone. And Nightshade." He said very seriously. 

Doyle looked startled for a moment before coughing. "Oh. Uhum....okay. I suppose that will be all right." He then motioned to all to leave. 

The last to leave was Locus, who just stared Nightshade down and she returned the stare. And he then left. 

"Is he gone?" Nightshade suddenly asked out and everyone looked at her. 

"Um...he did just kind of.....?" Donut started. 

"Not you." Nightshade said softly glancing at him before turning her head. 

"Yeah, he's gone." Church said now materializing right over her shoulder. 

"WHOA!!" 

"WHAT IN SAMHILL?!" 

"Huh. It's Church." Donut said pointing at the white AI. 

"Hey, fuckers. Long time no see." Church said waving before looking right at Nightshade. "I also disabled the audio system so we can't be eavsdropped on. I thought you said you didn't want them to see me, Rob." 

"Mostly I didn't want Locust or The Federals to see you, Church. I don't care about these guys. They're going to find out sooner or later about you. Might as well come clean entirely." Nightshade said to her AI. 

"What the hell is going on here?! Church! What are you doing here?! Where's Carolina?!" Wash blurted out. 

"I dunno, you asshole. It's why we are talking to you about it! We came looking for you dickheads to find her." Church said lazily. "And wrong Church youre thinking about, Da-a-a-vid. Boo, motherfucker. I'm a fucking ghost." He said sarcastically. 

If it were possible, Wash's armor would have been white as he cringed back in alarm. 

"Al......Alpha?!" 

"Ye-ah. And don't fucking call me that, asshole. We're looking for Epsilon too. So if you know where he is, that'd be great. Cause trying to remember shit that isn't even there is really fucking annoying." Church said. 

"So....wait. There are two Churchs?!" Donut asked bewildered. 

"No, there's only one fucking Church, Donut! And that's me!" 

"Church, calm your ass down or you're grounded." Nightshade said warily before she turned to Wash. "So.....the story is, we stole Alpha from you and Maine two years ago. They've been with us the entire time." She said shrugging. 

Wash looked right at York, who was looking really amused. "York, what the fuck.....?" He was asking. 

"Everything we just told you is true, Wash. We just left out a few details." York said shrugging. "Oh, and it's Hemlock. I'm not New York any more." 

"So what in tarnation is going on here?!" Sarge asked now cocking his shotgun in his hands but not quite aiming at them yet. 

"Just that. We told you everything. Sort of, anyway." Hemlock said before motioning to Nightshade. "Her fiancé was used as Alpha's body. Jimmy Burnes. He was chosen by Florida to hide Alpha, who prefers being called Church. He doesn't like the fact that he is an AI but he's accepting it after being with Night, here, for so long." He then looked at the Reds, who stood stalk still. "The Church you knew in the beginning is right. The Church you know now......we don't know where he is. And we do need to find him so that Church can be complete again. He needs his memories so we can track down Florida." 

Wash frowned seriously before looking right at Church. "Huh. I have to admit it, this is kind of weird after thinking you were destroyed. So if you're here......then what about......?" 

"Hi, Wash!" There came such a young voice as red and blue and purple flashed before Theta was right next to him. 

Wash jetted back in surprise before looking when there came dark purple flashing before him and his breath caught. "Theta?! Omega?!" 

"Oh, hell! O'Malley!" Sarge yelped now raising his shotgun. 

"Thats roght, you fools! It is I, O'Malley! I shall crush you......!" Omega was saying as he chuckled darkly before flinching when Foxtrot flicked her finger through him. 

"Reign it in, Omega." Foxtrot growled and the AI seemed to cringe. 

"yes, ma-am." Omega said now sheepish. 

Church and Theta both snickered as they looked at the dark purple AI. "I'll never get tired of seeing O'Malley getting put in his place by you, Fox." He stated before looking at the Reds and Blue. "Okay, so here's the thing. I am Alpha of Project Freelance. I fucking call myself Church and my body before fucking Caboose blew me up with Sheila was Jimmy, Nightshade's man and she's fucking pissed. Like....Tex pissed when Tucker shot her in the ass. We need your help finding Butch Flowers, who is Florida so she can rip his fucking head off and shove it so far up his ass. Okay? Okay! Now pack your shit and let's go find the other guys, let's go fucking find Carolina and......." 

"Church, cool your ass." Nightshade said now reaching up to cup her hand around him and he huffed. 

"Okay, I am completely confused." Sarge said now scratching at his helmet.

So, they explained again. Everything. They just left out the whole part about Hargrove, Locus and Felix. They figured they needed to have a solid plan before blowing that one out of the water. 

One step at a time was for the best. 

"Huh. That actually kind of makes sense now." Donut said wonderingly. 

Wash slowly nodded before he straightened. "All right. I think we can buy that. And we.....can help you. You help us find Tucker, Simmons, Grif and Caboose, we can all sit down and talk about this and come to an arrangement." He told them before looking at Sarge, Donut and Lopez. "Sound good?" 

"Hmph. I don't see why not. It don't sit right with me to hear a lady like this here Nightshade lost the fella she loved all because our stupidity." Sarge said shrugging. 

Wash chuckled as he glanced at him. "So you're finally admitting it." He said and received a growl. 

"It wasn't you." Nightshade said as she folded her arms and shifting uncomfortably. "Itt wasn't your fault. None of you. I wanted to blame you in the beginning. And I did have every intention of killing all of you." Her voice hardened as she spoke, making them tense up a little but she sighed and motioned to Church. "But it was Church convinced me that it wasn't your fault." 

"Hm. Sounds to me you've two become quite close friends." Wash said now sounding amused. 

"Shut the fuck up, Wash." Church growled and received a laugh from the one laughing. It didn't help that he was glowing a little, something so similar to a blush. 

Nightshade snorted but shook her head. "Well, after dealing with his grumpy ass for the past two years, yeah. I think it's safe to say we're friends." She said now in a teasing voice as she poked at her transparent friend, who swatted at her. 

Hemlock laughed before looking at Wash. "Wash, we do have to ask you to keep this quiet from your new friends. It'll be....better if they didn't know we had a bunch of Freelance AIS." He told him. 

Wash nodded as he shared a glance with the others. "Okay. I can buy that. I can see them wanting to use Church and his AI fragments for their cause. And to be honest, I don't even trust Locus. He's giving me the Meta vibes and I don't like a guy who would attack us for the sake of recruiting us." He said firmly. 

"Do you even think he is helping you? Or the Federals?" Nightshade asked seriously. 

Wash, Sarge, Donut and Lopez glanced at one another but shook their heads. "We don't know, honestly. Something isn't right about this whole thing. And we got a feeling he isn't playing on the same side. But we did agree to help them and we can't go back on that. Doyle, you've seen him. He's an idiot but he has a good heart. He's not evil or manipulative. But he is trying to keep people from being hurt." He said shrugging. "It feels right to help them." 

"What about Felix and the Republic? Do you think they're evil?" Foxtrot asked. 

Wash shook his head. "No, not really. But I don't know a whole lot of their side of the story. Felix wasn't exactly.....honest with us either. I don't know what to believe and that's why I want to find Tucker and the others. We have to get these sides to stop fighting or people are just going to keep on dying. Good people." He stated. 

Nightshade and her two friends shared a glance then with their AIS. 

"Okay. Then we will do what we can to help. Let's end a war and then we can finally move on. I still want to find my team and then go after Florida." Nightshade said and they all shared nods of agreement. 

They were all in agreement. It was time to get to work.


	8. Don't Pick Poisonous Flowers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Best Used: Bangarang by Skrillex feat. Sirah

"There you go, Larkspur. Thankfully it wasn't trashed in the crash but we got it back and in one piece." Oleander said as she helped Wolfsbane put Larkspur into her chair. 

"Thank you, Oleander. And thank you, ma-am, for helping them get it back." Larkspur said gratefully as she looked at Kimball.

Kimball just shifted on her feet but nodded. "It was no problem. I'm just glad our team we sent out with you didn't run into trouble. But I'm glad we could get it back for you." She then motioned to the door. "Should we then? I can show you around and you can see what we do around here. And you can meet the Reds and Blues." She told them.

"That sounds great. It'll be fun getting a rise out of Tucker again." Oleander said snickering. 

Kimball snorted and looked right at the sunset colored soldier. "Do I have something to worry about when it comes to you?" She asked skeptically. 

"Why, do you like Tucker?" Oleander asked teasingly but with humor.

Kimball scoffed halfheartedly. "Heh, no. Friendly wise, yes. He is a good person but in intimate terms, no. I just don't want.....any necessary distractions in my army. We don't exactly.....have the opportunity for things like that. We're in a war, after all." She told her. 

Wolfsbane was the one to scoff with mild humor right with Autumn and Larkspur. "Tch, she teases men. But she's still a virgin. You don't have to worry about her sleeping with the men." She stated bluntly. 

"Sam!" Oleander scowled at her team mate. 

Kimball laughed either way. "Okay! That was a bit more information than I wanted." She said laughing before motioning for them to follow her and they followed.

"So, exactly how good are you in battle anyway? Felix seemed......pretty nervous around you when he found out about you. And I'm afraid I don't know a lot about your team. Information coming here is a little scarce about what goes on outside the planet." Kimball asked. 

The four women glanced at one another before shrugging. 

"Well.....let's just say we're not to be underestimated. We've never missed a mark we were hired to go after. Only once one of our targets got away but he didn't get very far once we tracked him down." Oleander told her.

"So you're very dangerous." Kimball said and she did sound a little concerned.

"Only to the wrong people." Larkspur spoke up as she trailed behind them in her wheelchair. "We don't go after innocent people. Mostly criminals. We choose our missions and jobs. But never kill good people." 

Wolfsbane nodded as she glanced at Autumn. "It's a Cree that Nightshade made. We do our homework very carefully when we are hired. If we deny a job and the client gets mad, we make it very clear to them that we aren't pushed around or backstabbed. Nightshade has no tolerance for back stabbers." She said seriously.

Kimball looked at her. "Is she.....easy to get along with?" She asked hesitantly. 

Autumn nodded brightly. "Yep! As long as you don't try and backstabbed us or try to kill us or cheat us out of payment or lie! She hates liars too!" She said a little too bubbly for the morning.

Amused Kimball just nodded. "Well then, I'll probably get along with her. Because I don't like that either. I hate it when people lie to me." She said seriously before she halted and turned to block the four from going on. "So tell me the truth. Why are you really here?" 

All four froze, looking at her in surprise. 

"Wha-?" Autumn asked bewildered. 

Kimball tightened her grip on her gun, raising it a little bit but not aiming. "Look, I'm not one that can be fooled too easily. And I know that at some point, you're not being honest with me. Maybe you did crash land on Chorus. But not by mistake." She said deadly serious. "And you seemed a little too interesting for Felix. I trust him because of what he has done for us. And he believes you're lying to us." 

"Are you sure you should trust him?" Wolfsbane asked seriously back. 

Kimball looked at her but shook her head. "I don't fully trust him but I trust him enough. But you.....all of you, I don't know you. And no, I don't trust you. And you seem a little too interested in the Reds and Blues. Plus, Tucker sometimes forgets to turn off his helmet cam and I heard your conversation with him." She looked right at Larkspur, who cringed when her three friends looked accusingly at her. "So tell me. Why are you here?" 

And she meant business. 

Oleander inhaled sharply before dipping her head down. "We came here for the Reds and Blues. We need their help finding a former Freelancer named Butch Flowers, also known as Agent Florida. He murdered Nightshade' s fiancée. And we've been looking for him a long time." She said bluntly.

Kimball looked right at her as if just a little surprise. She seemed taken back for a second. "You're pretending to be helping us so you can get them?" She asked. 

The four shook their heads. 

"No, we will help you. But when we do, the Reds and Blues needs to come with us. We need their help when you're done with them." Larkspur said with a shrug. 

"Hm. Okay. So you're pretending to look for your team when you know where they are?" Kimball asked. 

"Kind of. We don't know exactly where they are. But we can stay in contact with them." Oleander stated. "Look, we can't tell you everything. That's not our call. It's Nightshade's. She's our leader. But we will tell you that we need the Reds and Blues when you are done with them. The man who murdered Nightshade's lover is out there and we've been looking for him for four years. We believe Agent Washington can help us track him down. Him and the Reds and Blues." She told her. 

"And Nightshade is getting really frustrated that we haven't found him by now. So if we're done here, can we move on?" Wolfsbane asked. 

Kimball heaved a deep sigh before nodding. "Okay. We can do that. But is there any way your team can send us information? About the Federals' plans? That way we can be ready for their attacks." She asked. 

"We will see. But if that means putting our other three in danger, probably not. But we will ask Nightshade." Larkspur stated. 

Kimball just nodded as she turned and started walking again. "Anything else I should know?" She asked. 

There was a pause. 

"Well........don't be surprised if Felix stabs you in the back." Oleander said and received a surprised look from Kimball.

"Felix?! But he.....!" 

"He is a mercenary. He gets paid to do something. I can bet you if some bigger pay check comes along, he might just take it. If he hasn't already." Oleander told her seriously.

Kimball paused for a good moment before slowly nodding. "Okay. I'll consider it. But how will I know you won't do the same?" She asked as they walked. 

"Like I said, we need the Reds and Blues. And if they're not willing to leave without helping you first, then we will help you. We can't force them to leave you in the gutter." Oleander told her. "And we wouldn't force them. We might be some hard bitten, paid killers but that is one thing we don't do. Force anyone to do anything. Besides, we pic the jobs. And we choose to help you end this war. You can trust us. Because we know how it feels to lose people you care about." 

Kimball just glanced at her before nodding. "What was he like?" She asked softly.

"Who, Jimmy? Well.....he was a royal goofball." Oleander said now laughing. "He was very nice and kind and cared about everyone he met. Didn't matter who that person was. He loved Nightshade very much too. He was even willing to give up his own life for the woman he loved, even if she had the skills to do the job and he didn't. He wanted to sacrifice himself to keep her safe." 

"Hm. He sounds nice. How do you know he was actually murdered?" Kimball asked. 

"It was Project Freelance who did this to Jimmy. And it was Florida who arranged it all. We did a lot of digging around and even had inside help from two of the former freelancers. Connecticut and New York. They both helped us a lot to find out the truth." Wolfsbane said. 

"Which, you'll find out eventually, New York is one of us. He is Hemlock." Oleander said and received a surprise look from Kimball. 

"Really? So is that why you're looking for Washington? Because they knew each other?" Kimball asked genuinely interested. 

The four ladies shrugged. 

"More or less. Either way, we did help end Project Freelancer in some way. The price to pay, however, was Larkspur." Oleander said motioning to her friend in the wheelchair. "She was......attacked during our digging around. The cost was her legs. But none of us, not even her is going to back out to helping Nightshade. She deserves this justice. Jimmy deserves this. And when we find Florida, he is going to regret ever hurting Jimmy." 

Kimball slowly nodded as she took it in. "I bet. Well, I wish you luck then." She then cleared her throat as they came to the outside court where there were a group of armored soldiers mingling around and talking to each other. 

In the mix, the flowers saw Tucker talking to soldiers in maroon, orange and deep blue. Or rather......swearing strong profanities at the dark blue soldier. 

"Attention!" Kimball suddenly barked and all attention snapped to her. "Capatains, please come here for a moment! The rest of you, back to you were!" 

The Reds and Blues walked over, though the orange one had to drag the dark blue one over because he seemed distracted. 

"Heya!" Tucker greeted the four flowers with a wave. 

"Hi, Tucker." Oleander said almost flirtatious wrangling her fingers at him and he coughed. 

"Oh, please, tell me that is a joke." The orange one said irritably. 

"Captains," Kimball interrupted firmly. "These are some of our new recruits. Captain Tucker, you've already met them. But I thought it best if you were introduced." She looked at the ladies. "Deadly Bouquet, these are the Reds and Blues. You've met Lavernius Tucker. But these are the others. The maroon one is Richard Simmons. The one in Orange is Dexter Grif and the last Michael J. Caboose."

"Huh?" Caboose spoke up, as if he finally snapped his attention into reality and he noticed the three ladies. "Oh! Hello! New friends! I'm Caboose!" 

The four ladies snickered but it was Autumn who snapped forward and held out her hand towards him. "Hi, Caboose! I'm Autumn Crocus! Nice to meet you!" She said brightly and was stared. 

"Hello, Fall! I like Fall! Halloween is in Fall! Because Halloween, people give out candy! Do you like candy?! Because I love candy!" 

"I love candy too! My nickname is Cupcake!" 

"I love cupcakes!" 

"So do I!" 

"Oh. My. God. They are just like each other." Grif said now sounded weirded out as he and everyone stared at the two now having a loud, cheerful conversation with each other. 

"Well, at least he knows the other word for Autumn." Simmons said with a shrug.

Larkspur and Oleander was snorting with laughter, almost doubled over. 

"Well, at least she's having a good time already." Wolfsbane said shaking her head before turning her attention back the other three. 

"Uh-hem. Guys, these are The Deadly Bouquet. Or four of them anyway." 

"The Deadly what?" Simmons asked skeptically. 

"The Deadly Bouquet. We are four of a seven man team. Well, six women and one man team." Oleander said snickering.

"Dude, seriously? Talking about lucky guy!" Tucker said. 

"Mmmm. Not really." Wolfsbane said rolling her eyes under her helmet. 

"Tch. Yea-ah, sounds about right. Just imagine being around a bunch of girls during their PMS week." Grif said with a sigh. 

"Grif, shut the fuck up! That's just rude! And inappropriate!" Simmons hissed at him. 

"I'm just saying!" 

"Grif, you want to get punched?" Wolfsbane asked blankly. 

"Uh.....no." 

"Then shut up. We're not going there." Wolfsbane said warningly. 

"Uh....okay. So, why are you called The Deadly Bouquet?" Simmons asked. 

"Because we are named after the most poisonous flowers known to mankind." Larkspur said brightly and all attention went to her. She motioned to herself. "I'm Larkspur. That's Oleander and that's Wolfsbane and the cheerful insane one over there is Autumn Crocus." 

"Huh. Cool." Simmons said sounding pretty interested. "And you said there's a guy in your group? Who's he?" 

"Hemlock. We also have Foxtrot and Nightshade. They're missing though and we need help finding them. We think the Federals have them. Just like your team mates." Larkspur said softly. 

"Oh." Grif said before tilting his head. "Curious. Why are you in a wheelchair?" 

"Grif! Tact, man!" 

"It's okay, Tucker. I don't mind." Larkspur said amused. She turned her attention back to the orange one. "I'm paralyzed from the waist down. I can't walk thanks to a Freelancer asshole named Kentucky. He stabbed me in my spine. It's thanks to our leader, Nightshade that I'm not even dead. Or worse." 

"What's worse than dead? And sorry. That was kind of rude, wasn't it?" Grif said obviously grimacing. 

Larkspur shrugged. "Its okay. But worse than dead? A complete vegetable. Not able to move at all. Not able to do anything." She told him.

"Well that sucks. I'm sorry. Stupid freelancers. They sure were assholes, weren't they?" Simmons grumbled. 

"Hey, Wash isn't bad!" Tucker growled. "Sure he's an asshole. And he's bossy and he kept making me do shit but he's on our side!" 

"Don't worry, Tucker. We'll help you guys find him." Oleander said looking at him. 

"Anyway," Kimball interrupted. "Guys, I know you have your trainees, but I want you to work with these ladies. They can probably help train your teams. And once you have your teams ready, like I said, I'll let you guys go on that mission. But first, I'd like a demonstration of what you ladies are capable of. I mean, if you don't mind."

Oleander shared a secret smile with the other three. "Oh, no. That's all right. We don't mind." She stated. "How do you want us to do this?" 

"Bow Chicka Wow Wow." Tucker had to Crack and everyone else groaned. 

Oleander, however, laughed. "You'll be saying that a lot in a minute, Tucker." She said and felt the grin on his face when she said it. 

"Oh, god. Please tell me she isn't like him." Simmons groaned now slumping. 

Larkspur giggled as she looked right at him. "Sorry, Simmons. She is." She stated and he groaned.

Kimball scoffed before motioning to the Reds and Blues. "How about you show us with them? Train together and show us what you can do?" She said almost too lightly. 

The guys froze. "Wha-?!" Three at least blurted out in alarm while Caboose was still engaged in a friendly conversation with Autumn. 

"Heh, okay. We can do that." Oleander said before pointing at Tucker. "Come on, big boy. Show me what you've got." She added in her flirty tone again. 

Tucker grimaced now backing away. "I'd say it but I have a feeling I'm not going to like this one bit." He remarked pathetically. 

"I got the orange one." Wolfsbane said wickedly. 

"Oh, god. Just don't hit me in the balls, okay? I've had enough of that with Tex." Grif moaned as he slumped. 

"Uh......do I.....I ha-have to face the crazy one?" Simmons whined as he backed away. 

"No. You can face me." Larkspur said with a giggle.

Simmons grimaced. "Uh.....but I......sorry, but you're in a wheelchair and I don't think......" he was saying uneasily. 

"Trust me. She isn't defenseless. Just dodge her as best as you can and you'll be fine." Oleander said snickering. 

"That's what I'm afraid of." Simmons groaned ed either way. 

The demonstration took place right there. They were all there and had made a circle for the two in the middle of it. Even Felix showed up to watch this happen. 

The two that stood there for now was Oleander and Tucker, who looked very uncomfortable with what was about to happen and she leaked amusement. She was looking forward to this while he was not.

"Okay. Begin when you're ready." Kimball said though she did sound like she was looking forward to this.

Tucker sighed as he shook his head. "Man, this is a waste of time. We should be looking for Wash and the others instead playing beat the other up." He grumbled.

"Oh, don't worry, Tucker. I won't hurt you." Oleander said teasingly as she shifted into a stance. "I'm just going to spank you." And it was obvious she winked at him. 

"Okay. I gotta say it. Bow Chicka Wow Wow!" Tucker said with a laugh before yelping when Oleander charged at him. 

Everyone was laughing by the end of it. 

Oleander had pulled some pretty impressive moves on him as she faced him. He did keep up with her on some extent but she was faster and she kept knocking him down. And when he got back up, she knocked him down again. 

At the end of it, she had him pinned under her which made him Crack his one liner again but it was clear he was amused. She did not hurt him but she did prove she was a better fighter and he didn't even seemed to mind he got showed up by a girl. 

Not that he ever got the best of a girl. 

Next, Wolfsbane did kick poor Grif's ass. She didn't even pull any punches and it did have him whining in pain. But she did not hit him in the balls, which he was entirely grateful for. 

Simmons was very hesitant to facing off Larkspur, and for good reason. He did not want to fight a girl in a wheelchair which came as no surprise he got tripped up when she pulled out shock batons and tripped him with them. 

Either way, even for a soldier confined to a wheelchair, Larkspur proved she was not defenseless at all. She even showed some pretty strategic moves even for being in a wheelchair. 

The last to be faced was Autumn Crocus and while she was technically suppose to face Caboose, she didn't want to. 

So she challenged Felix.

"Now I know I'm supposed to fight Caboose but I don't want to. He's too cute to mess up." Autumn said and got very weirded out looks from everyone. She ignored it as she pointed at Felix. "I wanna fight you." 

Everyone murmured in surprise.

Felix scoffed as he held up his hands and stepped back. "Hey, I'm not a part of this. I don't have to prove anything." He said a little harshly. 

Autumn giggled as she planed a fist on her waist and nodded. "Exactly!" She said with a giggle. "We need to prove ourselves. And how can we do that with them? No offense, guys." She added to the Reds and Blues. 

"None taken." Tucker, Simmons and Grif said blankly. 

"So, you're suppose to be the best fighter here, right? So I'm going to show my full potential by fighting. You." Autumn said innocently before she hummed almost devilishly. "Unless, of course, you're afraid you're going to get beat by a girl." 

"Ooooooh." Some of the rebels said with winces. 

Felix growled but shook his head. "I'm not afraid to get beat by you, little girl." He snapped. 

"Then step up or admit that a girl is better than you." Autumn said almost wickedly as she took a step into the ring, beckoning to him. 

Felix growled again but glanced around when some of the rebels began chanting his name. He growled at the very motion but then stepped forward, twisting his head to make his neck crack. "I'm not taking it easy on you." He growled as he stepped towards.

Autumn's grin could be felt through her helmet as she took a stance. "I didn't expect you." She said so wickedly for someone kind of petite. 

And as if a signal had been given, both charged at one another and became a fluid of movement. 

There were startled murmurs as all of the viewers watched Autumn move. She might have been small but she surely was not slow in any manner. She was very faster; faster than the other flowers were. She was a blur of periwinkle and lavender as she moved towards Felix, who lashed out a fist at her.

With fluid movement, Autumn leapt into the air and flipped right over his swinging arm before lashing out a foot as she flew over him and kicked him right in the helmet. 

"Oooh!" Several winced as Felix went stumbling at the force of her kick and she barrel rolled onto the ground before swinging around on her heel and kicked out at his very ass. 

Growling Felix turned with a jerk and began lashing out at her with a series of martial movement. 

And she dodged every single one as she posed each time he swung at her. She literally posed as she dodged his attacks. She even moved to attack right back like a money on speed. She was very flexible as it went to show as she attacked back.

From flipping around him and jabbing at him, Autumn moved with great speed and ahility, dancing around Felix and proving that she was lighter than he was. 

It went to show he was getting angry by all of her flexibility and speed. He kept growling when she dodged and even jabbed at him. 

But finally, he managed to clip her in the helmet with a fist and sent her down on her back. There were a lot of cries and wines as they watched her practically slam down hard on her back, her legs bent over her upper body. 

However, she surprised a lot of everyone by lashing her heels back down hard right on top of his head before flipping to her feet and upper cutting him that sent him down on his back.

A second later, Felix looked up and saw that he was pinned down by her foot and one of his knives was at his throat. He had no choice but to hold up his hands in surrender.

"Hm. That's what I thought. Autumn said proudly before getting her foot off of him and offering him a hand up. 

He ignored it, grumbling before just stalking off. He was obviously not happy with the results. 

"Ha! He was nice to see someone actually beat Felix. You're pretty good." Tucker said wandering over to the four girls now, followed by Simmons, Grif and Caboose. "Hey, got a proposition for ya. Can we talk in a few, away from Kimball?" 

"Sure." Oleander nodded as she shared a glance with her team mates then looked over at Kimball as she made her way over to them. "So what do you think of us now?"

Kimball shrugged. "Well, I have to admit it, you are good. And I definitely appreciate that you're willing to help us. I'd like to ask you to train some of our soldiers. I mean, if it's not too much to ask." She said sounding hopeful.

Oleander shared a glance with her team again before shrugging. "One step at a time. If we can find Nightshade and our team, we have to let it be her call." She said to her. 

Kimball nodded. "I can respect that. And in all honesty, I can't wait to meet her. She sounds charming." She said with light humor. 

The four laughed as they glanced at one another. "You...can say that she's as charming as a rattlesnake who got poked and prodded with a stick." Wolfsbane said with a laugh. 

"She sounds like I will get along with her. We will do what we can to find her and your team. It goes the same with the Reds and Blues. We will do what we can." Kimball said before turning away. "I'm going to go over the information that you managed to get, Tucker. And see if we can't come up with a good plan. But no pormises." She said before walking on. 

"That's okay." Tucker said before lowering his voice. "Cause I got my own plan. And I think it just got better." He said glancing at the four ladies who looked amused. 

"So what are you planning?" Oleander said to him. 

"Well, it's like tgis. Me and the guys......we were going to leave on our own tonight." Tucker told them. "We don't want anyone else getting hurt. Some guys already got killed because of us. And these are good people. They don't deserve this. But we can't leave Wash, Sarge and Donut hanging any longer. Want to help?" 

Again the girls glanced at one another before nodding. 

"Okay. We're in." Oleander told him. 

And they began planning how to make it happen.


	9. SURPRISE, MOTH'A!

The plan was simple. 

Steal a vehicle and get out and get to the facility where it was said that Wash and the others were being kept. And don't let anyone know where they were going. 

It was thanks to the four Deadly Bouquet members that they got the vehicle. 

And thanks to them that no one saw them leaving. 

But it was not untold to anyone. 

Oleander told Nightshade over the transmission that they were leaving the Republic earlier than planned. It was more than likely they were already going to get the two groups of Chorus together faster than they had planned out. 

And blow the cover for Felix and Locus. 

Nightshade agreed. 

She told her team to be on standby. 

Because they all arranged it where the teams would meet up and blow Chorus out of the water with what they knew. 

And she did warn them that Wash, Sarge and Donut now knew of Church and the other AIS. 

Oleander chose to keep the Reds and Blues on her end in the dark. She was curious of how they would take it. Not to mention, they still didn't have any information of where Carolina and Epsilon were. 

Hopefully, they would find out soon. 

But more or less, they were on their way on solving the problems they were facing now. 

The facility was in a snowy mountain range and it was there that they believed they would find the missing team mates. And where they would actually meet up with them.

"Okay, this is really big facility so I think the best thing to do is split up into teams to look for our missing comrades. They have to be here somewhere." Oleander said as she stood with her team and the Reds and Blues. "We can stay in radio contact. Whoever finds them first, radio it in and we will meet up somewhere." 

Everyone nodded as they separated into two teams. Though technically it was The Deadly Bouquet with each other and the Reds and Blues together. 

Oleander lead her three team mates around the back of the facility looking for any openings they could sneak through. They remained silent, even Larkspur in her wheelchair as they looked for a way in.

They came to what looked like loading docks and saw the opportunity there. 

Nodding to the others, Oleander started forward only to freeze when she saw movement. She flashed her hand and the four scattered quickly to hide behind something.

Two soldiers stepped out from a room; one dark green and one dark blue, almost the same color as Caboose but he had a different style of armor. He also had grenades strapped to his chest and belt, along with a pair of hatchets hanging down by his sides. 

One, the flowers knew. It was Locus. 

But the other.......

"They expect nothing from you, do they?" The dark blue asked in a very friendly voice and it made the flowers stiffen in growing horror. 

It was fucking Butch Flowers. 

He was right there! 

"No. They expect nothing. Not right now anyway. Though I am sure with the Deadly Bouquet here now, they will figure something out." Locus spoke, his voice deep and stoic. 

"Hm. Yes, the flowers are definitely a problem to us. They must know I am here, otherwise why else would they be here." Flowers said with a dramatic sigh. "They are sure a foolish lot. You would think they would get smart after my last message. But nopey nope nope. They obviously didn't get the message. So I'm just going to have to s3nd another one."

Locus just looked at him. "What kind of message?" He asked stoically. 

"I'm so glad you asked that, buddy 'ol pal!" Flowers said brightly. "I'm going to ask you to kill them! And I'm going to stand there and watch you do it! Should be fun! Starting with the four watching us right now!" 

The four girls stiffened when Flowers turned directly towards them and waved. 

"Hello, ladies! Why don't you all come on and talk to Cappy" Flowers said brightly. 

The four stiffened, glancing at one another before stepping out together and moving just a little bit closer. But not too close. They didn't want to get caught up with whatever he had in mind. 

"That's right, pretty lafies! Just a step closer! My eye sight isn't as good as it used to be! Come, come! It's okay!" Flowers said in his friendly way. 

The four eyed him suspiciously but did step closer. 

"Now then! Care to share why you keep following me around? I know I am totally awesome and a lady magnet. But.....you seem very violent in your pursuit of me." Flowers said too brightly.

All four flowers scoffed as they gave him disgusted looks as they remained tense as ever. 

"Ugh! You're despicable! You killed a good man for the sake of hiding an AI!" Oleander said coldly for once. 

Flowers sighed dramatically again. "Oh, I see. This is about Jimmy. Ah. Poor Jimmy. But you see, ladies. I did not kill Jimmy." He said almost sadly. "The Blues from Blood Gulch did!" 

"But you used Jimmy to hide Alpha! You brainwashed him and trapped him in his own body! The Blues! They didn't know who he really was! It was an accident on their part! But it wasn't an accident on your part! You hurt a good man!" Larkspur said angrily. 

Flowers sighed again as he shrugged. "Well.....I suppose I can't argue with that. But I promise to make amends with Nightshade when I kill her." He said before rolling his head towards them and they literally could see the friendliness disappear off of him. "As for you, I'm going to kill you now." His voice went dead and sinister. 

And then he pressed a button of the device in his hand. 

There was a snap and the ground shook from under their girls, making them gasp and look around just as a metal walls of a container shot up all around them and trapped them within a container. 

"No!" All four girls yelled as they tried to leap for the only opening but it shut on them. It left only a single glass window for them to see Flowers as he stalked forward with Locus. 

"That, my lovely flowers, is a UNSC class containment unit that can even hold a Covenant Hunter. The glass is unbreakable and bullet proof. It is also used for gassing prisoners for misbehaving." Flowers said friendly again. "It also cuts off any communication on the outside so you cannot warn Nightshade that I am about to put a bullet through her head. It will be your tomb in the next......twenty seconds. Good luck getting out of that one, Deadly flowers. Because you're going to be dead in the next three minutes. Ta-ta!" 

And he turned to leave with Locus, the four girls now pounding on the walls, trying to break it open. 

"No!" Oleander yelled as she and the other three pounder on the walls before she jetted her head up when she heard a hiss. 

Gas was now leaking into the cubical container and drifting towards them.

"No! We have to get out! We have to warn Robin!" Oleander cried as she threw herself against the walls with Wolfsbane. 

"Delta!" Larkspur cried out and there was a green flash as the AI snapped out of her neural implants. "Can you shut it down?!"

"I will try, Larkspur! But I'm afraid the possibility is at 5%! This container was meant for AIS as well." Delta said before vanishing and it did not help that in some way, he had sounded panicked. 

"Hurry!" Larkspur begged as she also set to work to help free their selves from the containment unit. 

......................................................................

"Nightshade to Oleander, Wolfsbane, Autumn Crocus and Larkspur! One of you answer me right now!" Nightshade yelled through her coms, sounding very worried before she snapped her attention over to her team and the Reds and Blues. "I can't get through to them. Something ' wrong." 

Wash shook his head as he glanced at all of his guys, who did look pretty worried, minus Caboose. He was too busy looking around in distraction. "Keep trying. Maybe there is just an electrical interference. This base has a lot of power running through it." 

"We should just fucking look for them!" Tucker said as he stepped forward. 

Wash looked over at him, shaking his head. "With Locus wandering around here somewhere, Tucker, we will either find them or him. And if what we just figured out is true, Locus wants all of us dead. If what you just said is true," he said looking right at Nightshade seriously. "Hargrove wants us dead. He is not going to want any one of us leaving this planet alive to tell the UNSC what he is doing here." 

It couldn't be helped that moments before, Nightshade had finally told all of the men the truth. 

It was all because the alarms had gone off as they were searching for the breech in security. They had found out someone was in the base. And they went looking. 

Of course, she knew it was her team and the remaining Reds and Blues. She kept silent until they almost literally ran into Tucker, Simmons, Grif and Caboose. 

They did some talking about which side was good because they were on the Federal and Republic sides and that was when Nightshade finally told the Reds and Blues the truth. 

That they were being played by Locus and Felix. 

Tucker didn't believe it and didn't want to believe it. He refused because of much time he spent with the asshole. 

But Nightshade couldn't make him believe it. 

The only thing she didn't tell the other Reds and Blues was that their mutal friend was listening in inside her head and she did feel him drift out of it when she tried to contact her four missing team mates. 

She knew Church was going to go look for her team. She couldn't tell the other four Reds and Blues about him yet until he got back. 

"Well, we need to do something." Nightshade said seriously as she looked back at the Reds and Blues. "I have to find my girls." 

Wash nodded as he glanced over at the Reds and Blues. "We will help you. And once we regroup, we can figure out how to blow Locus and Felix's cover with the Federal and the New Republic." He said and ignored the huff from Tucker. 

They all turned to go look but froze when they saw just how surrounded they were. 

Not by eavesdropping Federals. 

By Locus. And what looked like Space pirates. 

"Well, I suppose that you now know the truth," Locus spoke up as his men raised guns to aim at them and they all gathered closer to each other, raising their own weapons back. "It'll be easier to just kill you all." 

"Locus!" Wash growled as he glared up at the dark green soldier. "So it is true! You work for Charon and you are trying to kill all of these people." 

"I guess that means the cat is out of the bag for me too." 

Tucker yelped as he heard Felix and whipped around to see him also aiming at them with his own weapon. "Felix! You mother fucker! So it is true!" He snarled. 

Felix shrugged as he looked back at Tucker. "Yep. Afraid so, Tucker. But I'll tell you what, it was so easy to play you, you idiot. Feed a story about me and my partner hating each and always trying to kill each other while letting you be the one to get Rebels killed in your stupid crusade to getting your friends back." 

Tucker flinched at that. 

Nightshade growled before stepping forward, only to hear weapons charge. 

"Don't you think of moving, Deadly Bouquet." Locus warned and red dots did snap on from the weapons flash on, showing that they weren't aimed at the Reds and Blues. They were trained on the three flowers in the group. "One more step or even movement of coming at us, you will be cut down. These are alien weaponry and they will disinigrate you. Even poisonous flowers can be destroyed if you just burn them." 

Nightshade just growled and balled up her fists. "Where is my team?!" She snarled. 

"Heh!" Came a short laugh from behind Locus and a dark blue soldier stepped into view. Though he did stop behind one of the space pirates, drawing a large hunting knife from his belt. "I'm afraid I had them killed, Robin." 

It was like lightning struck right through Nightshade when she recognized that voice and she looked up with alarm. 

"Florida!" Wash was the one say it. 

Flowers shrugged lightly before he lashed out with his knife and stabbed the space pirate in the side, who screamed a female's scream before shoving her forward and off the plateform. "In the flesh, Washington! And hell~llo to you too, Carolina!"

Everyone looked at the fallen pirate with surprise and the camo program did change into powder blue. 

"Carolina!" The Reds and Blues cried out in surprise as Wash and Hemlock rushed over to bend down beside her in worry. 

Carolina was bleeding pretty bad now from being slashed open by Flowers. She groaned as she held her side, being held up by Hemlock. 

A flash formed right beside her and Nightshade had to do a double take to make sure it wasn't actually Church that was hovering beside the former Freelancer. 

It was Epsilon. 

"You asshole!" He had snarled before looking worried at his partner. "Carolina, you okay?" 

"I....ugh...was....just stabbed, Church! What the hell do you think?!" Carolina groaned as she flinched as Hemlock pressed his hand against her wound to try and stall the bleeding. "Hey! Watch it! That hurts!" 

"Sorry, Carol." Hemlock said in between worried and amused. 

Carolina flinched heavily before looking at Hemlock in shock. "Wha-?!" She yelped in alarm. "That voice......you......" 

"Oh! So my suspicions were right!" Flowers said in a sing song tone as he paced back and forth right behind Locus and the pirates. "It *IS* New York! Hi, York! It's so good to see you again, buddy!" 

Hemlock looked right up at Flowers, the chill forming off of him. "Don't call me that, Florida." He said coldly. "I'm not your friend. Or your pal or buddy." He said coldly. 

"Yo-York?" Carolina asked in complete shock.

Hemlock hummed softly before he got into his side compartment and pulled out a flick lighter, showing it to her. "Yeah. It's me. I'll explain everything later when we get out of this." He told her. 

"What do you mean you had my people killed?!" Nightshade growled as she glared up at Flowers and everyone looked at her then at the former Agent Florida. 

Flowers pulled out a device that showed the four missing flowers in the container he left them in. "I made sure to take a picture for you to prove it, Robin Tyker." He said cheerfully. "The container they are in is filling up with poison gas and they should be dead.......right about now. Not even their armor can protect them from the gas. It fills your ventilation intakes and chokes you until you cannot breath any longer." 

Nightshade felt her chest constrict as she looked at the image with pain before she glared up at him. "You son of a bitch." She growled. "First Jimmy and now my girls! I am going to kill you! Slowly, Butch Flowers!" 

"Heh. You say that a lot since I used Jimmy as Alpha's body. Too bad he is dead now." Flowers said before growing cold. "Because if it was my choice, he would be right here, kneeling before me just so I can kill him again. Just. For. You." He then tossed something at Nightshade, who flinched but looked at what he tossed at her. 

A silver ring. 

A sharp inhale from Nightshade as she bent down and picked it up. "Jimmy's ring." She breathed. 

"You're such a dick, Cappy!" Tucker suddenly snapped as he stepped forward only to freeze when the weapons charged again. "How could you do that?! Can't you see she is in pain?! You killed her man and now you're torturing her with that?!" 

"Well, Tucker, aren't you growing up?" Flowers said with a chuckle. "Usually, you don't give a poop about other guys. And yet here you are. Defending her man." 

"Yeah, well at least I don't torture ladies who are in pain!" Tucker growled angrily. 

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong, Tucker." Flowers said cheerfully. "I am simply going to kill her and all of you, just so she can be with her Jimmy again! I'm just going to give her the peace she's been looking for all these years." 

"Yeah? Well, I have a problem with that." Someone suddenly spoke up from beside Flowers, making him stiffen and turn to look right at the cobalt blue soldier that stood there. 

Nightshade ' head came up in surprise as she looked right at Church. "Church?!" She yelped. And the others even choked out in surprise at the sight of him. 

"Boo, mother fucker. I'm a fucking ghost." Church said as he shrugged before lashing out hard and punching Flowers hard right in the face guard that sent him careening right off the plateform.

Locus and the pirates turned their weapons over onto Church, who jumped back, raising his hands. 

"You. Who are you?" Locus growled. 

"Me? I'm Leonard Fucking Church. Also known as Alpha of Project Freelancer." Church said and heard the chokes of surprise as some stiffened. One being Epsilon. "Also, you kind of fucked up. You left the girls unsupervised to die. With Delta." He added before clicking his fingers. 

Suddenly, three flashes of color jumped down behind him and one came right around the corner in a wheelchair, all aiming their weapons. 

"Big mistake, asshole." Oleander said before there was a flash beside her and Sigma was hovering beside her. 

"The probability was not in our favor but our brother, Delta is a highly established AI. He can hack into any machinations and turn it off. Escaping from that container, however, was thanks to our creator. Alpha." Sigma said motioning to the cobalt soldier. 

"If we're done here, we are going to kick your ass now." Church said as he snapped into a fighting stance and even the three flowers behind him snapped into action. "Also, like the armor? It used to belong to Tex. Or one of them. Larkspur kind of took one of the Tex bots from Project Freelancer and made me a new body so I can help Nightshade better. So, Cappy." He looked right at Flowers as he climbed to his feet and turned to look at him. 

"Ready to feel pain?" Church spoke and even as he spoke, so did the other AIs. "Because you're gonna be feeling a lot of it when we and Nightshade gets done with you!" 

Flowers huffed with a shrug. "Well, I guess there is one way of finding out if that's true." He said lightly before once again growing dead serious. "Kill them all." 

Locus, Felix and their space pirates snapped forward to attack. 

The Deadly Bouquet and the Reds and Blues snapped into ready and charged right back. It was go time and they had to make sure they won.


End file.
